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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



OF THE 



STATE OFFICERS 



AND 



MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE 



OF THE 



STATE OF NEW YORK, 
IN 1859, 



BY 



WM. D. MURPHY, 

AUTHOR OP "BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, tC.j 1858." 



_* 



ALBANY: 

PRINTED EY C. VAN BENTHUYSEN. 

1859. 



?~> 






Entered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

WILLIAM D. MURPHY, 

in the Clerk's Office of the Northern District of New York. 



INTRODUCTION. 



" 'Tis in books the chief 
Of all perfections, to be plain and brief." 

One year ago, amid the cares and perplexities of an early 
advent upon a professional career, the Author found time to 
issue a work similar to this, and the favor with which it was 
received by the public has now encouraged him to repeat the 
enterprise. His chief object then, as it is now, was to furnish 
impartial, truthful, and condensed biographical sketches of the. 
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, State Officers, and Members 
of both branches of the Legislature, and in this, at least, he has 
again been eminently successful. The work is perfectly reliable, 
even as to the most unimportant dates, and hence becomes as 
much a book of reference as any thing else. 

The necessity of an index to the work, it will be observed, 
lias been entirely obviated by the alphabetical order in which 
the Senators and Members of Assembly have been respectively 
arranged. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



EDWIN D. MORGAN, 

GOVERNOR. 

Mr. Morgan is one of those men not uncommon in 
this country, who pursue their course quietly through 
life, doing well and earnestly whatever they undertake. 
His career has been that of a successful merchant, and 
though he has for many years taken a deep interest, and 
an active part, in State and National politics, he has 
never held any important public office, except that of 
State Senator, till his promotion to the distinguished 
position he now occupies. 

Gov. Morgan was born in the town of Washington, 
Berkshire County, Mass., on the 8th of February, 1811. 
His father, Jasper Morgan, resided in that town till 
1822, when he removed with his family to Windsor, 
Connecticut, where he is still living at a ripe old age. 
Until he had reached his seventeenth year, Edwin 
passed his life very much as the sons of New England 
farmers generally do — in tilling the soil and going to 
school. But with his common school education, a capi- 
tal of thirty-seven and half cents, and a firm deter- 
mination to succeed in life, by his industry and integrity, 
he went forth to seek his fortune, in 1828, in Hartford, 
Conn. The young men of the present day will doubt- 
less smile, at hearing that he bound himself to a Hart- 



6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ford trader, at a salary of $60 for the first year, $75 
for the second year, and $100 for the third year. But 
during his clerkship, and when only nineteen years of 
age, an incident occurred which exhibits, in a marked 
degree, his real character. A trip to the great city was 
not then made with such facility as at this time, but as 
he had served for two or three years in the store, and 
acquired the confidence of his employer, he was permit- 
ted to go to New York,, and, to combine business with 
pleasure, was intrusted to make sundry purchases of 
tea, sugar, etc., and also corn, which was then becoming 
an article of import, instead of export. The visit was 
made, and Edwin returned in due time, coming home 
by the old stage route. After being greeted and wel- 
comed, his employer inquired as to the corn. The price 
was very satisfactory, but his employer doubted if the 
article would be of good quality at so low a rate. 
Edwin immediately drew a handful, first from one pocket 
and then from another, as samples, and the old gentle- 
man expressed his approbation. It had been usual for 
the dealers to purcase two or three hundred bushels at 
a time, and he then inquired of Edwin as to the quan- 
tity, but was nonplused by the answer, that he had bought 
two cargoes, and that the vessels were probably in the 
river. " Why, Edwin," said the astonished old gentle- 
man, " what are we to do with two cargoes of corn ? 
Where can we put it ? Where can we dispose of it ?" 
" Oh ! " replied Edwin, " I have disposed of all that 
you don't want, at an advance ; I have shown the sam- 
ples to Messrs. A. B., who wish three hundred bushels 
0. & Co., three hundred bushels, etc., etc. I could 
have disposed of three cargoes if I had had them. I 
stopped in the stores as I came from the stage oifice 
and made sales." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 7 

It was a new phase, and out of the old routine, but 
the gains aud results were not to be questioned. The 
following morning Edwin was at the store, as always, 
in season, and had taken the broom to sweep out the 
counting room, when his employer entered. " I think," 
said he, " you had better put aside the broom ; we will 
find some one else to do the sweeping. A man who can 
go to New York, and on his own responsibility purchase 
two cargoes, and make sale of them without counseling 
with his principal, can be otherwise more advantageously 
employed. It is best that he should become a partner 
in the firm for which he is doing so much." Although 
not of age, he was forthwith taken into partnership, 
and from that day to this, success has marked all his 
operations. 

Shortly after attaining his majority, Gov. Morgan 
was elected a member of the City Council of Hartford. 
In 1833 he was married to Miss Waterman, of that 
place, by whom he has one surviving child — a son of 
mature years ; and in Dec. 1836, removed to the city of 
New York, where he established himself as a wholesale 
grocer. He was prudent, and used his small capital — 
$4000 — with sagacity and discretion. He was thus en- 
abled to pass through the trying times of 1837-'42 with- 
out disaster, and gradually to increase his fortune, until 
now he ranks among the richest merchants of the city, 
the house of E. D. Morgan & Co., standing among the 
first in New York. He occupied a prominent position in 
that city for many years before he cared about assuming 
public duties. At length, in 1849, at the request of 
many gentlemen of his political faith, he became a mem. 
ber of the Board of Assistant Aldermen. In that year, 
as is well known, the cholera broke out and raged with 
fearful violence throughout the metropolis. At that 



8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

time he was one of the Sanitary Commmittee, and upon 
him devolved particularly the duty of providing hospi- 
tals for the sick ; but instead of leaving the city, and 
seeking safety and repose in the country, he remained 
at his post, and for nearly four months devoted a large 
share of each day to administering to the wants of the 
afflicted. 

In 1850, Gov. Morgan was elected to the Senate from 
the city of New York, and was re-elected in 1852. He, 
at once, distinguished himself in that body as a correct 
business man, speaking rarely but to the point, and de- 
voting himself assiduously to the less obtrusive but more 
useful duties of his position. Since the organization of 
the Republican party, he has been one of its most hon- 
ored and active members. He was for some years chair- 
man of the Whig State Central Committee, and was, up to 
the time of his nomination for Governor, chairman of the 
Republican State Central Committee, which position he 
had occupied- since the organization of that party. He 
was one of the officers of the Pittsburg National Con- 
vention in the winter of 1855, which was the first prac- 
tical step taken for the establishment of the National 
character of the Republican party, and was then chosen 
chairman of the National Committee, a post which he 
still holds. He occupied the position of one of the Com- 
missioners of Emigration some two years, but resigned 
the place after his election as Governor. 

It may, perhaps, be creditable to Gov. Morgan here 
to state, that more than eighteen years ago, when public 
sentiment was just beginning to arouse on the subject 
of temperance, he became convinced that the traffic in 
intoxicating liquors was wrong, and though not then 
nor now a professed temperance man, he and his firm 
from that time abandoned the sale of wines and liquors, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 9 

which was then universally considered a legitimate part 
of a grocer's business. 

In person the Governor is tall and stoutly built, 
with strongly marked features, and exhibits a uniform 
habit of devoting himself earnestly and efficiently to 
the discharge of his official duties. Although possess- 
ing enlarged and liberal views, he usually forms his own 
opinions, and though not having a college education, is 
thoroughly acquainted with the history of the country 
and her civil and religous institutions. The duties of 
his office will doubtless be fulfilled during his term of 
service with conscientiousness, promptness, and fidelity 
to those political tenets of which he is an ardent and 
prominent adherent. 



ROBERT CAMPBELL. 

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. 

Lieut. Gov. Campbell is a native of the pleasant 
little village of Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., where he 
was born in the year 1809, and where he now resides. 
He is a son of the late Robert Campbell, Sr., who died 
in 1849, and who emigrated to this country from Scot- 
land, and settled in the town of Bath, as early as 1794. 
He followed the honest occupation of a farmer, and 
was, in every respect, a fair representative of the very 
best type of Scottish character. 

Mr. Campbell was educated chiefly at the Geneva 
Academy and College. He then received a thorough 
course of legal training, and at once entered upon the 
practice of law, in his native village, where he has 
always since been engaged in his profession, with the 



10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

exception of a short time which he passed at Auburn. 
As a lawyer he is sagacious and able, and although 
making no pretensions to forensic display, never fails to 
express himself with plainness and force. He possesses a 
clear, strong, logical mind, and is liberal, though tena- 
cious, in the maintainance of his own opinions. He is 
now engaged in farming and in the pursuit of his profes- 
sion, and has been eminently successful in both. Al- 
though not ambitious of political notoriety, he has been 
an active and very influential politician in the county of 
Steuben, from his early youth up. He has an unfeigned 
aversion to office, prefering to devote himself exclu- 
sively to the private management of his party, in which 
he has proven himself an adept, and has almost inva- 
riably refused to allow his name to be used for that 
purpose. He was, however, a member of the Consti- 
tutional Convention of 1846, where he took a prominent 
and influential part in behalf of the notorious " Stop 
and Tax Law," and is now a Regent of the University. 
He was always a bold, fearless, and uncompromising 
member of the Democratic party until the Buffalo 
schism, when he became identified with the friends of 
Mr. Van Buren, many of whom have since, like himself, 
joined the Republican ranks. 

Mr. Campbell's personal appearance is that of a man 
who is in the full enjoyment of matured intellectual 
powers and a sound, unimpaired physical constitution. 
He is rather below the medium size, with dark blue 
eyes, dark brown hair, head and features finely formed, 
and has a cool and deliberate, though firm and uncom- 
promising, expression of countenance which at once 
gives assurance of the man. He is married, and occu- 
pies a deservedly high position both in the social and 
political world. He has now just barely entered- upon 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 11 

his new and responsible position of presiding officer of 
the Senate, but will doubtless soon prove himself a 
worthy successor of such distinguished men as De Witt 
Clinton, John Taylor, Erastus Root, Edward P. Liv- 
ingston, Daniel S. Dickinson, Hamilton Fish, and San- 
ford E. Church. 



12 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



STATE OFFICERS. 



GIDEON J. TUCKER, 

SECRETARY OF STATE. 

Mr. Tucker was born in the Fifth Ward of New 
York city ( " beneath the shadow of old St. John's 
church steeple " as he is accustomed to say,) in the 
year 1827, and is the youngest State officer ever elected 
or appointed in the State. His father's family are of 
English extraction, having been among the early settlers 
of Maryland, and on his mother's side he is of " New 
York Dutch " descent. 

Mr. Tucker received a classical education, and entered 
for the bar. He read law in the offices of Francis B. 
Cutting and Stephen Cambreleng, and received his 
license to practice, from the Supreme Court, in 1848. 
He was, however, early allured from the rigid profession 
of the law into the more enticing pursuit of politics. 
While a law student, he had taken no inconsiderable 
interest in the partisan affairs of the day, and espe- 
cially during the sessions of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion iu 1846, had frequently contributed to the news- 
paper discussions to which its action gave rise. In this 
and the following year he was constantly writing for the 
political press, almost always anonymously. 

In 1851 Mr. Tucker was nominated for the Assembly, 
in the ward ( forming by itself an Assembly District ) 
in which he was born, which was then one of. the strongest 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 13 

Whig districts in the city. He was defeated, though 
running far in advance of his ticket. In the same year 
he suffered a more important, and, indeed, overwhelm- 
ing pecuniary reverse, by the decision of the Court of 
Appeals, upon a law suit involving the will of a relative 
under which he was a considerable legatee. He then 
abandoned the law, perhaps in disgust, and seeking other 
employment, solicited and received from Comptroller 
Wright an appointment to a clerkship in his office at 
Albany. 

In the Comptroller's department Mr. Tucker spent 
over a year at the desk, adding to his income meanwhile 
by contributions to the Albany Argus, then edited by 
Sherman Croswell. In the mean time the division in 
the Democratic ranks had widened, and while the Comp- 
troller adhered to the section known as the "Softs," 
Mr. Tucker, with the Argus, belonged to that called 
the " Hards." Not deeming it honorable for him to 
retain his position in Mr. Wright's office, under such 
circumstances, Mr. Tucker resigned ; and while the 
Comptroller accepted the resignation, he most gene- 
rously and courteously expressed his regret at the sepa- 
ration, and the personal intercourse of the two gentlemen 
has always remained on the kindest and most friendly 
footing. 

Mr. Tucker was soon after tendered a valuable 
appointment by Collector Bronson, in the New York 
Custom House, but, preferring an editorial to an official 
position, he purchased the interest of Edwin Croswell 
in " The Albany Argus," and fully entered the edito- 
rial list, to take part in the conflict of factions which 
followed. During 1853 and 1854, his pen was active 
in the political columns of the Argus. He was one of 
the earliest and boldest champions of the Kansas- 



14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Nebraska bill, which he defended with much zeal. After 
the defeat of Judge Bronson, as the Democratic candi- 
date for Governor, in 1854, however, Messrs. Crosweli 
& Tucker were compelled to part with their interest in 
the Argus, and the latter returned to his native city, 
where he founded and began to edit the New York 
Daily News. This paper immediately took rank as 
the leading organ of the "Hard" wing of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

In 1856 Mr. Tucker was chosen one of the delegates 
from his section of the state, to attend the Cincinnati 
Presidential convention. While actively employed in 
the exciting campaign which followed, he was compelled 
by failing health to temporarily withdraw from his edi- 
torial labors, and his retirement from the News was an- 
nounced in the columns of that paper on the 1st of Sep- 
tember, 1856. Relieved from this incessant care and 
responsibility, he rapidly recovered his health, and a 
winter spent at Washington, in more genial climate, 
quite restored it. In the spring of 1857 he was unani- 
mously elected one of the "Sachems" of the Tammany 
society, doubtless the most influential political associa- 
tion in the United States. This election of Mr. Tuck- 
er is said to be the first unanimous election of a " Sa- 
chem" to be found in the records of that society. 

In the Democratic State convention, which assembled 
at Syracuse on the 10th of September, 1857, Mr. Tuck- 
er's name was brought forward with unusual unanimity, 
for the nomination of Secretary of State. There were 
double delegations from New York city, contesting each 
other's right to seats, and dissentients upon all other 
questions, but every delegate claiming to represent that 
city was friendly to Mr. Tucker's nomination. Dele- 
gates from the rural districts were equally unanimous in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 15 

his favor, and he received, upon the call of the roll 
the votes of one hundred and twenty of the one hundred 
and twenty eight delegates composing the convention, a 
most flattering and unequivocal compliment. The cam- 
paign which followed is fresh in the recollection of all 
Mr. Tucker received the highest vote cast for any can. 
didate upon the state ticket, and was elected by the 
largest plurality. J 

Mr. Tucker is a man of courteous and affable de- 
meanor, but frank in his manners and expressions. In 
political matters he is prompt, decided and inflexible. 
Whether he has been on the right or the wrong side 
in politics, it belongs not here to discuss, but this much 
may safely be averred-he has always been on the same 
side. Like most men of the pen, he is not an orator, a 
natural diffidence preventing him from speech-making. 
lie is a rapid and accurate reporter, and his reports of 
-Legislative proceedings in the Argus of 1853 and '54 
were considered inferior only to those of Mr. Croswell 
As an editor he holds a distinguished rank. His writ- 
ings are brilliant and argumentative, while free from 
personal acrimony and virulence. Among the members 
of the editorial profession, of all politics and all shades 
ot opinion, he is universally and deservedly popular 
and there are perhaps few men in public life who can 
boast a wider circle of personal friends. He entered at 
the age of thirty, upon the administration of an office 
which has numbered among its many illustrious infant' 
bents, such statesmen as John A. Dix, John 0. Spencer 
bamuel Young, and Nathanial S. Benton. This dis- 
tinction he had bravely won for himself, at so unusual 
an age, by consistency of principle and fidelity to friends. 
Mr, Tucker's administration at the office he holds has 
been eminently satisfactory. His courtesy, promptness', 



16 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and liberality commend him to all. As a member of 
the Canal Board he has advocated, at all times, the 
reduction of tolls upon frieghts to the very lowest prac- 
ticable figure, and it was by his efforts that the great 
reduction of tolls in the spring of 1858 was carried 
through the Board. The result of the measure has 
more than met the expectations of its advocates, the 
aggregate of tolls having increased some $65,000, in 
spite of the diminution of rates. Business has been 
attracted to the Canals which the high tariff of toll is 
claimed to have driven to the railroads. 

Mr. Tucker, along with his colleague the Comptroller, 
has also been the means of effecting a saving in the 
expenditure for legislative printing, of some $50,000 
annually, and a contract to that effect has been signed 
by them. This last named sum, it should be remem- 
bered, would alone pay the salary of the Secretary of 
State for twenty years. 

Mr. Tucker, in addition to these high public services, 
has introduced many reforms and improvements into the 
administration of his office. Business is systematized, 
till its execution almost resembles the working of 
machinery. The annual reports are ready long before 
their usual time. The daily work is finished up with a 
regularity and rapidity new to the State Hall. Every 
body works as the Secretary himself works — like an 
editor — that is to say, unintermittingly. 

Mr. Tucker will retire at the expiration of his present 
term of office, on the 1st of January, 1860, with the 
reputation, every where admitted, of a faithful, efficient, 
and economical public servant. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 17 

SANFORD E. CHURCH. 

COMPTROLLER. 

Mr. Church is a native of Milford, Otsego county, 
N. Y., where he was born on the 18th of April, 1815. 
He is of English descent, and his parents were origin- 
ally from Connecticut. When he was quite young his 
father removed to Monroe county, and in 1834 to 
Orleans county where he still resides. Mr. Church 
received an academical education principally at the Mon- 
roe academy, and at the age of twenty, located himself 
at Albion, Orleans county, where he has always since 
lived. He was a deputy in the county clerk's office, at 
that place, during which time he began the study of law, 
and in the spring of 1838 entered the law office of B. 
S. Bessac, with whom he commenced to practice as a 
partner in 1840. In 1841 he was elected a member 
of the Assembly from Orleans county, which then con- 
stituted a single district, against a majority the prev- 
ious year of seven hundred. The Legislature of 1842 
included among its members such men as John A. Dix, 
Michael Hoffman, Horatio Seymour, Levi S. Chatfield, 
and George B. Davis, of Troy, and was decidedly the 
ablest legislative body ever assembled in the State. 
Although the youngest member in the House, Mr. 
Church immediately took a prominent part in all its 
deliberations, and was chiefly instrumental in the selec- 
tion of George P. Barker, of Buffalo, as Attorney 
General. He was a warm personal friend of Mr. Barker, 
and at once entered into the contest with great enthusiasm, 
tempered with caution and cool judgment. The fact 
that he had been elected from a county politically 
2 



18 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

opposed to him, and in the eighth district, wnere it was 
supposed no Democrat ever could be elected to the leg- 
islature, counteracted the effect of his youthful appear- 
ance, and his strong common sense and consummate tact 
were soon manifest to the sagacious politicians then at 
Albany. When it was moved in the Democratic caucus 
to proceed to ballot for Attorney General, he arose and 
offered a resolution that the representation from each 
Senate district should cast the number of votes of the 
members of the legislature from the district. The res- 
olution was offered, not with a view to its passage, but 
to impress upon the caucus the claims of Western New 
York and thereby those of Mr. Barker. He then 
addressed the caucus on his resolution, with marked 
ability and earnestness, depicting the struggles of the 
Democracy in that portion of the State for a quarter 
of a century, with overwhelming majorities against 
them, unable to have, from year to year, a single voice 
in a Democratic legislative caucus, and deprived of all 
participation in the election of officers who then received 
their appointment from the legislature. He appealed 
to the magnanimity of the members of the caucus to do 
an act of justice to a meritorious class of fellow Demo- 
crats, and his appeal met a most magnanimous response. 
As soon as he had closed his remarks, the Hon. George 
liathbon, who was a prominent candidate, went to his 
friends, requesting them to vote for Mr. Barker, and 
many who were before doubtful, at once avowed them- 
selves in favor of his support. The current was 
irresistibly turned in his favor, and notwithstanding the 
great and prominent names and influences that were 
arraigned against him, he received the nomination, on 
the third ballot, and the result of the contest was 
received with the best feeling in every quarter. For 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 19 

his agency in this nomination Mr. Church received from 
Mr. Barker the title of " the Democratic Member from 
the Eighth," by which designation he was known during 
the remainder of the session. 

In 1844, Mr. Church entered into partnership with 
Noah Davis, Jr., and continued with him in the practice 
of the law until May, 1857, when the latter was 
appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court by Gov. 
King. He has succeeded in his practice in securing 
the entire confidence of the people of his own county 
and throughout that section of the State. He is proud 
of his profession and ambitious to excel in it, and yet 
he has progressed so far in public life as to render it 
difficult to return. He was, also, in 1844 one of the 
delegates from this State to the Democratic National 
Convention at Baltimore, and warmly advocated the 
nomination of Mr. Van Buren, but after his defeat, 
cordially and zealously supported the nominee of the 
Convention, as did all the friends of Mr. Yan Buren in 
New York. 

In 1845 Mr. Church was appointed District Attor- 
ney of Orleans county. In 1846 he was a candidate 
for Congress against Gov. Hunt, in what was then a 
very strong Whig district, and although defeated, ran 
far ahead of his ticket. At the first election under the 
new constitution, in 1847, he was elected District At- 
torney of his county by five hundred majority. In 1849 
he was the candidate of his party for the Senate against 
Alonzo S. Upham, in the eighth district, then compris- 
ing the counties of Orleans, Genesee and Niagara, and 
although defeated, received majorities in Niagara and 
Orleans, which were then strong Whig counties. When 
Horatio Seymour was nominated for Governor, in 1850, 
he was placed upon the same ticket as a candidate for 



20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Lieutenant-Governor, and was elected by about eight 
thousand majority, while Washington Hunt defeated 
Mr. Seymour by between two and three hundred votes. 
In 1852 he was again nominated for Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, and was re-elected with Gov. Seymour, who was 
again placed upon the ticket as the Democratic candi- 
date for Governor. At this election Mr. Church re- 
ceived two hundred and seventy-five thousand votes, 
which was a larger number than any other candidate 
had ever before received in the State. He declined a 
nomination for Lieutenant-Governor in 1854, and re* 
turned to the practice of his profession which he had 
never entirely relinquished, during his whole political 
career. In 1856 he was a candidate for Congress, but 
owing to the Kansas excitement which then swept over 
the North like a whirlwind, was of course defeated. 
The Democratic State convention, at Syracuse, in 1857, 
nominated him, against his own wishes, with unusual 
unanimity, for the office of Comptroller, and he was 
triumphantly elected. 

In 1848, when the Democratic party became divided, 
Mr. Church supported Mr. Van Buren for the Presidency 
against Gen. Cass, the nominee of the Democratic con- 
vention, and during all the divisions of the Democ- 
racy he has acted with the Radical, or Barnburner por- 
tion of the party, exercising all his influence, however, 
at all times, to restore peace and harmony to its dis- 
tracted councils. Although firm and decided in his 
political opinions, and tenacious of party attachments, 
he is courteous to his political adversaries, and tempers 
his zeal with such discretion as never to render him per- 
sonally obnoxious to his opponents. One of the strong- 
est evidences of this is furnished by the fact, that imme- 
diately after his election to his present position in the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 21 

administration of the State government, the prominent 
citizens of Orleans county, without distinction of party, 
honored him with an invitation to a public dinner, 
which he accepted, and in which they speak as follows ; 

"As representative of our county in the popular 
branch of the State Legislature ; as Lieutenent-Gov- 
ernor and President of the Senate ; as a member and 
presiding officer of the Canal Board, and in every pub- 
lic positon to which you have been called, you have dis- 
played fidelity to your trust and signal ability ; and 
although some of us have differed, and still differ with 
you on questions of principle and measures of policy, 
none of us have doubted the purity of your motives, or 
the integrity of your actions. 

But it is chiefly in private life and in your profess- 
ional relations that you have won the confidence and 
esteem of your immediate neighbors." 

Mr. Church was married in October, 1840, to Miss 
Ann Wild, formerly of New Hampshire, by whom he 
has two children. He attends the Episcopal church, 
and although not a regular member of that denomina- 
tion, is always deeply interested in whatever pertains 
to its permanent prosperity. He is a man above the 
medium size, with a robust and vigorous frame, and is 
apparently the very personification of good health. He 
ranks high as an orator, and his voice has often been 
raised in different portions of the State in behalf of the 
doctrines of the great Democratic party. 



22 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

ISAAC V. VANDERPOEL, 

TREASURER. 

Mr. Vanderpoel was born in 1814, in Kinderhook, 
Columbia county, New York, and is a descendant of 
one of the oldest families in the State. His great- 
grand-father emigrated from Holland as early as 1609, 
and settled on Long Island. He was among the ear- 
liest residents of what is now the State of New York, 
as the Documentary History of the State will show. 

The subject of this sketch is the son of the late 
Benjamin Vanderpoel, of Kinderhook, an original 
" Buck-Tail" Democrat of the old school, who has 
held several offices of honor and emolument in Colum- 
bia county. He was appointed Sheriff under the old 
Council of Appointment, by Gov. George Clinton, with 
whom he was on intimate terms. The Vanderpoel 
family was of the genuine Knickerbocker stock, and 
their associations were with the Van Burens, the Van 
Rensselaers, the Van Nesses, the Livingstons, the Van 
Schaacks, the Van Dycks, and others, whose names and 
reputations are part and parcel of the history of the 
State. 

Mr. Vanderpoel was educated at the Kinderhook 
academy, under the tuition of Levi Gleason. Among 
his classmates were the Hon. Isaac A. Verplanck, of 
Buffalo, and H. H. Van Dyck, of Albany — gentlemen 
who speak in high terms of the thoroughness and prac- 
tical character of the instruction they received at this 
institution. Mr. Vanderpoel completed the full course 
of study here, and graduated with credit. Soon after, 
he entered the law office of Messrs. J. & A. Vanderpoel, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 23 

in his native village, where, for four years, he read law 
and made occasional demonstrations in the way of prac- 
tice. At the expiration of this time, he went to New 
York city, to complete his legal studies, and was admit- 
ted to the office of Price & Sears, a firm well known to 
the profession as one of high reputation. At the Octo- 
ber term of the Supreme Court, in 1834, he was admit- 
ted to the bar, and immediately removed to the town of 
Aurora, in Erie county, where he became a partner of 
P. M. Vosburgh, now the Clerk of that county. After 
practicing in Aurora two years, he went to Buffalo and 
formed a law partnership with F. P. Stevens, who was 
then a Democrat. 

In 1837, at the time of the Patriot war, Mr. Van- 
derpoel was appointed Brigade Inspector of the 47th 
regiment of the New York State Militia, by Gov. 
Marcy, which office he held eight years. He is said to 
have discharged his military duties with promptness and 
gallantry, and to universal satisfaction. In 1838, when 
Erie county was one Assembly district, and when the 
Democratic party was in a deplorable minority, he was 
a candidate for the Assembly, and ran ahead of his 
ticket. In those days the most sanguine Democrat 
scarcely dared to dream of " the good time coming," 
when the county should be emancipated from the rule 
of the opposition, and roll up a respectable Democratic 
majority. From this time until 1847, he declined to 
be a candidate, but never failed to be heard on the 
stump in behalf of Democratic principles. He was 
then again nominated for the Assembly, and came as 
near an election as a straight Democrat then could. 
He has been a delegate to State conventions tivehe 
different times from Erie county, and has always occu- 
pied a prominent position in the Democratic party. 



24 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

During the administration of Franklin Pierce he wag 
recommended by both branches of the legislature, by 
Gov. Seymour, and by prominent gentlemen in the party 
throughout the State, for Charge d'Affairs to the Hague, 
but it was not his good fortune to be rotated in, it 
being, probably, thought advisable to keep the working 
Democrats at home. 

In the fall of 1856, Mr. Vanderpoel was nominated 
on the Democratic Presidential electoral ticket for his 
district, but, unfortunately for the Democratic party, 
he and thirty-three other sound Democrats were 
deprived of the privilege of casting their votes in the 
electoral capacity for Mr. Buchanan. He took a very 
active part throughout the whole campaign, and besides 
speaking in nearly every ward in Buffalo, and every 
town in Erie county, canvassed largely in several other 
counties in Western New York and in Pennsylvania. 
He has always been popular with the masses as a speaker. 
With a clear perception of the issues involved, a lucid 
style of speaking, and a pleasing address, he combines 
an agreeable modicum of pleasantry, so that he never 
fails to attract and hold the attention of his auditors. 

Mr. Vanderpoel was not an applicant for the office 
which he now holds, but the Democratic convention, 
which nominated him, recognizing the proud position 
of Erie county in the party, and taking into considera- 
tion the fact, that after so many years of Whig rule, 
she had elected the only Democratic Congressman west 
of Albany, could not refuse to place his name upon the 
ticket as a compliment to that county. He was accord- 
ingly nominated by acclamation, and was triumphantly 
elected by a handsome plurality of votes. 

During the past year he has faithfully discharged 
the duties of the office, exhibiting a degree of financial 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 25 

tact and ability rarely surpassed, and will doubtless 
close his official career with a reputation equal to any 
of his distinguished predecessors. 

He is one of the finest looking men at the State 
capital, being tall and well proportioned, with a full, 
rosy face, and a frank, open and intelligent countenance, 
and it is not a little remarkable, that a gentleman of 
his fine personal appearance, and excellent disposition 
and manner should never yet have entered into a matri- 
monial alliance. 



LYMAN TREMAIN. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

Mr. Tremain was born on the 14th of June, 1819, 
in Durham, Greene county, N. Y., a thriving agricul- 
tural town, situated beneath the shadow of the Catskill 
mountains, about twenty miles west of the Hudson 
river. His father, Levi Tremain, with his wife, emi- 
grated to that place, in 1812, from Berkshire county, 
Mass., a section of country to which any one might 
well be proud to trace his ancestry, and to which may 
be referred many of the brightest intellects now to be 
found in many portions of the country. His parents, 
who are still living, are distinguished in a more than 
ordinary degree for the shrewdness and intelligence of 
their fatherland, mingled with a humor and sprightli- 
ness but seldom found in those who have passed the 
meridian of life. His grandfather, Nathanial Tremain, 
who died only a few years since at Pittsfield, Mass., 
was a Revolutionary soldier, and having contributed 
his full share of service to the purchase of American 
freedom, turned his attention, at the close of the war, 



26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

to the honest and quiet occupation of the husbandman, 
which he followed during the remainder of his days. 

The only means of education enjoyed by Mr. Tre- 
main, were those afforded by the common and select 
schools of his native town and the Kinderhook academy. 
He was, however, a faithful and diligent scholar, 
always taking the lead in his studies, and at the close 
of his academic career, had acquired a far better educa- 
tion than most of the young men at the present day 
possess at the end of a regular college course. In 
1834, although then but fifteen years of age he entered 
the law office of John O'Brien, of Durham, as a student 
at law, and immediately commenced trying causes in 
Justices' Courts, not only in his own county, but in the 
counties of Schoharie, Albany, and Deleware, in which 
he was very successful, acquiring great skill in the 
management of all the cases entrusted to him. At 
these trials crowds always flocked, as they said, " to 
hear the boy plead law," and seldom failed to be 
amazed at the skill and ingenuity with which he, at so 
young an age, conducted his causes. During this exten- 
sive practice, however, his studies were by no means 
neglected, and no student ever attended more closely to 
them, as an evidence of which, it is said, that while pur- 
suing the ordinary course of studies, he read through 
every volume of Cowen's and Wendell's reports — a task 
from which older heads might well shrink in despair. 
After leaving the office of Mr. O'Brien, he passed a 
few months with Samuel Sherwood, an eminent lawyer 
in New York city, and was then at the age of twenty- 
one, admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New 
York. His fame as a lawyer having already become 
extensive, he immediately entered upon a large and lucra- 
tive practice, in his own, and the adjoining counties. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 27 

Early in life Mr. Tremain embarked on the exciting 
and stormy sea of politics, and, unlike many others, 
has successfully guided his hark in safety, amid the 
dangers, seen and unseen, peculiar to that troubled 
ocean. His voice was heard and his pen known and 
felt on all suitable occasions, and contributed in no 
small degree to the advancement of the principles of 
the Democratic party in his county and State — a party 
of which he has always been a warm, ardent, and con- 
sistent supporter. His resolutions, speeches, and ad- 
dresses evinced a knowledge of history, of public and 
political affairs, and a maturity of judgment but seldom 
surpassed by the older veterans of his party, and his 
fame became so well known that his voice and pen were 
often, subsequently, called by his party to other por- 
tions of the State, to take an active part in the various 
political contests between the two great parties of the 
country. 

At the early age of twenty-three Mr. Tremain was 
nominated by the Democracy of his native town as a 
candidate for Supervisor. The town was then strongly 
Whig, but notwithstanding this, and the old maxim, 
that a "prophet is not without honor save in his own 
country," he was triumphantly elected by a handsome 
majority. In February, 1846, he was appointed Dis- 
trict Attorney of G-reene county. The county judges 
were divided by the divisions which then distracted the 
Democratic party, but they all united in conferring the 
appointment upon him. An unusual amount of import- 
ant criminal business fell to his lot during the brief 
period which he held the office, but he discharged it 
with an energy and fidelity that elevated him still higher 
as a lawyer in the estimation of the people and his asso- 
ciates at the bar. In 1847 he received the regular 



28 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

nomination of his party as a candidate for the office of 
County Judge, and was elected at the judicial election 
in June of that year. In his election to this office, 
which embraced that of Surrogate, he had a Whig and 
Democratic competitor, both of whom were popular and 
leading men in the county, and resided at the county 
seat, which gave them a great advantage ; but he was 
elected by a large majority over both, and a majority 
over the regular Opposition candidate of twelve hundred, 
which was a larger majority than was ever given in the 
county when the Democratic party was united. He 
was again nominated for the same office in 1850, and 
although, by throwing out the returns of one election 
district, on the ground of fraud, the canvassers awarded 
him an election, he declined, under the circumstances, 
to accept the office, in an address to the people of the 
county, which was satisfactory to them and creditable 
to himself. In Nov., 1853, he removed from Greene 
county, and locating himself in Albany, where he still 
resides, formed a law partnership with the Hon. Rufus 
W. Peckham, of that place, which still exists, and con. 
tinued his practice with increased success. His reputa- 
tion as a lawyer now increased more rapidly than ever, 
and in the fall of 1857, he was nominated, with great 
unanimity, by the Democratic State convention at Syra- 
cuse, as a candidate for Attorney General. The con- 
test which followed, and in which he took an active 
part, addressing large meetings at different prominent 
points in the State, was spirited and enthusiastic, and 
although, according to the result of the Presidential 
election the year previous, his party was greatly in the 
minority, he was successful by a plurality of upwards 
of sixteen thousand. He has thus far proven himself 
an excellent public officer. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 29 

Mr. Tremain gave unmistakable evidence, very early 
in life, of more than ordinary capacity as a speaker, 
and now occupies a prominent position before the coun- 
try as a first class orator. When only fourteen years 
of age, he delivered an original speech at the semi- 
annual exhibition of the Kinderhook academy, which 
was loudly applauded and universally admired. He 
possesses a loud, shrill voice, combined with a good 
articulation, and that self-possession, easy flow of lan- 
guage, and earnestness of manner, which are so essen- 
tial in the real orator, and whether before a jury, the 
court, or a promiscuous audience, rarely fails to influence 
the will and the judgment of his hearers. To this he 
adds an obliging disposition and courteous manner, and 
is thus generally rendered popular wherever he is known. 
He is truly a striking example of the influence of repub- 
lican institutions, in assigning to genius and talent their 
proper station and reward ; and being now only in the 
prime of life, with a large robust frame, and a sound 
vigorous constitution, he has, doubtless, still before him 
a long career of usefulness and honor. 



VAN R. RICHMOND, 

STATE ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR. 

Mr. Richmond was born in January, 1812, in the 
town of Preston, Chenango county, N. Y. He is the 
eldest son of Oliver Richmond, a farmer in that county, 
who died at an advanced age, in 1853. He received a 
good practical business education at the Oxford academy, 
in Chenango county, and as early as 1834, when quite 
a young man, received from the state the appointment 



30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of chainman in the engineering force engaged upon the 
Chenango canal, which was then in process of construc- 
tion. Here he remained until 1837, gradually rising in 
point of rank, when he was appointed Resident Engi- 
neer on the Erie canal, and was located at Lyons, where 
he now resides. In 1842, his location was changed 
from this place to Syracuse, when he took charge of 
the entire Middle Division of the New York State canals, 
under Jonas Earll and Daniel P. Bissell, as Canal Com- 
missioners. In 1848 he resigned this position, and 
accepted an appointment on the Oswego railroad. It 
was decided about this time, by the Whig Canal board, 
to run an independent line for the enlarged canal from 
Jordan to the Cayuga marshes ; but they had no man 
in their employ to whom they felt safe in entrusting the 
work, and after canvassing the merits of all the engi- 
neers of the Stated an appointment for the execution of 
the task, in a seperate capacity, was tendered to Mr. 
Richmond. He accepted, and immediately entered upon 
the work. He submitted a line for the canal, and a 
plan for the aqueduct across the Seneca river, which 
were adopted, and the work was immediately put under 
contract. This aqueduct is doubtless the most import- 
ant structure on the Erie canal, and fittingly attests the 
skill and genius of its originator. 

In 1850, when Mr. Richmond had satisfactorily 
arranged the plan of this noble piece of work across 
the Seneca river, he resigned his position, to take the 
appointment of Division engineer of the Syracuse and 
Rochester direct railroad, in which capacity he was 
engaged until 1852, when, at the instance of Wm. J. 
McAlpine, he was appointed Division engineer of the 
Middle Division of the New York State canals. In the 
fall of 1853, a Whig Canal board was again elected, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 31 

including the Hon. John T. Clark, as State Engineer. 
As Mr. Richmond had always "been a Democrat, strong 
efforts were made to accomplish his removal ; but Mr. 
Clark refused to give his sanction to the measure and 
he was retained — a circumstance as creditable to Mr. 
Clark as it was complimentary to Mr. Richmond. In 
the winter of 1856, the American party came into pos- 
session of the Canal board, and being a Democrat, he 
was removed from office for the first and only time in his 
life. From that period he lived in retirement at his home 
in Lyons, until he was nominated and elected to the dis- 
tinguished position of State Engineer and Surveyor, which 
he has held with such distinguished ability the past year. 

During the twenty years Mr. Richmond has been in 
the servi.ce of the State as an engineer, he has proven 
himself equal to any in industry, integrity, and fidelity 
to the interests of the people, and there is scarcely more 
than one, perhaps, in the State, who can surpass him in the 
line of his profession. He is well calculated to adorn the 
responsible office which he now holds, and while prevent- 
ing, in a great measure, the fraud and corruption hitherto 
too often practiced at the connivance of some of his pre- 
decessors, he has made, thus far, an eminently honest and 
economical disbursement of the public moneys falling into 
his hands for the prosecution of the various enterprises 
connected with the great canal works of the State. 

In 1837, Mr. Richmond was married to Miss Anna 
A. Dennison, who died in the spring of 1854, and by 
whom he has three children living. In person he is tall 
and slender, though having the indications of an ability 
for more than ordinary physical endurance ; has light 
hair, light blue eyes, fair complexion, and a quick, active 
step, denoting a restless, working mind. He is one of the 
rare men whom dignity and fortune do not spoil. 



32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



SENATORS. 



CHENEY AMES. 

Senator Ames was born in 1808, in the town of Mex- 
ico, Oswego county, N. Y. His parents, who emigrat- 
ed from Connecticut with a small family, were among 
the first settlers of that then wilderness, and were sub- 
ject to all the privations, toil, and difficulties peculiar 
to a pioneer life, having to go a great distance to mill, 
and being without schools, churches, or any of those 
social advantages we now enjoy. The limited means 
and scanty requital of their hardy labor deprived them, 
not only of many of the ordinary comforts of life, but 
rendered it necessary for the children of a subsequently 
numerous family, consisting of four sisters and seven 
brothers, all of whom still reside in the county of Oswe- 
go, to join in the labor of self-support. 

The father of Senator Ames was a man of strict integ- 
rity ; upright and honorable in all his dealings and lived 
and died respected by all who knew him. His mother 
was a woman of much more than ordinary capability. 
Endowed by nature with a strong and abiding constitu- 
tion, light, agile frame, and buoyant and hopeful in spirit, 
with much vivacity of mind and elasticity of character, 
she was fully enabled to successfully adapt herself to all 
the vicissitudes of her long and toilsome life. Not 
only did she discharge with promptness and fidelity, all 
and every duty of a wife and mother, but she was ren- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 3d 

dered eminently worthy of imitation by her kindness of 
heart and sympathy for the poor and distressed. Her 
enlarged benevolence and open hand were restrained 
only by the means to relieve, but still her sympathetic- 
tear and kind words often encouraged many an one to 
try again. She was peculiarly a counselor of the young, 
whom she always exhorted to make God their early 
choice, and to adopt the maxim, that "honesty is always 
the best policy," and with these principles as their 
guide, she would bid them press forward in honest 
industry, as the way to success was open to all. With 
the precepts of such a mother, Senator Ames was sent 
forth, at the tender age of fourteen, without educational 
advantages, and apprenticed to the hatting business, in 
the little village of Delph, Onondaga county, N. Y. 
After spending five years in the hard and toilsome ser- 
vice of this occupation, with but few months' common 
schooling in the mean time, his employer failed in busi- 
ness, leaving our young adventurer once more upon his 
own resources. True to the strongly expressed wish of 
his father, that all his boys should be brought up to 
laborious trades, instead of the popular professions, he 
salied forth with his little all, consisting of his ward- 
robe and a few books, the reading of which occupied his 
leisure, for further employment. He sought and found 
employment in the same business, in the village of Cort- 
landville, Cortland county, where, after spending one 
year in the further prosecution of his trade, he induced 
his former employer, although, like himself, without 
means, to purchase the establishment he was employed 
in, and once more undertake to retrieve his broken for- 
tune. 

During his entire apprenticeship he cherished a strong 
desire to obtain an education, in order that he might 
3 



d4 biographical sketches. 

become, emphatically , a man ; but having none to kelp 
or encourage him in breaking away from the restraint 
of his dependent condition, he continued to prosecute 
his trade, employing his few leisure hours in the improve- 
ment of his mind, and the advancement of his know- 
ledge of men and things. In this way he passed the 
prime of his youth, and the beginning of that manhood 
which, to him, as to most others, appears bright and 
promising. At about the age of twenty-five, he married 
Miss Emily, daughter of Albert North, of Otsego 
county, with whom he lived fourteen years before her 
death. She was of Puritanical parentage, of which she 
so far partook, religiously, as to give that beauty and 
grace of character which can be appreciated only by 
those who have moved in its hallowed sunshine. She 
possessed a degree of amiability and womanly excel- 
lence, seldom acquired at the early age of thirty, and 
she left her impress so thoroughly on her four surviving 
children — two daughters and two sons — that they are 
now ornaments to the society in which they move. 

Senator Ames remained in this village eight years, 
in the capacity of apprentice, clerk, partner and prin- 
cipal in the business to which he had been educated, 
and met with that success with which uprightness, 
industry, and frugality are ever crowned. Becoming 
dissatisfied, however, with the limited business of his 
trade, in an interior town, he was, in 1837, induced to 
turn his attention to a wider sphere, where his active 
mind might have more scope and a larger field in which 
to operate. Accordingly, in May of that year, he 
settled in the village of Oswego, where he has since 
lived, mingling with the most active citizens of that 
place, in all that is calculated to promote its growth 
and prosperity. Active in business and energetic in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 35 

character, he has stemmed the current of events, and 
met the various adverses of life with a mind and a will 
to overcome that has enabled him to progress from one 
degree of success to another, until he has attained a 
position in business and society worthy of imitation. 
In 1854 he married his present wife, Kate Brown, late 
of Burlington, Vt., a lady possessing all those strong 
traits of character which render her an agreeable compan- 
ion and an intelligent woman. 

Senator Ames is now the leading partner of a firm 
extensively engaged in the grain and flour trade, as a 
commission merchant in the city of Oswego. He suc- 
cessfully carried his establishment through the late 
financial crisis, without suspension or extension, and 
now ranks as one of the first in his profession, as a man 
of honor, integrity and ability, worth the toil and per- 
severance it has cost to attain it, 

In his youth Senator Ames adopted the principles 
instilled into his mind by his pious mother, and has 
always been a firm believer and supporter of the Gos- 
pel, as preached and held forth by the Presbyterian 
branch of the church. He is, also, a consistent advo- 
cate of the cause of Temperance, and all other moral 
and benevolent objects that have for their design the 
amelioration of the condition of mankind. In politics 
he is a warm and cordial Republican, often taking the 
stump, and is ever ready and willing to give his reasons 
for the hope and faith within him on this subject. 

With a unanimity seldom equaled, Senator Ames 
was brought forward by the Republican Senatorial con- 
vention of the Twenty-first district, in the fall of 1857, 
as a suitable person to occupy the seat which he filled 
with ability and success, during the last session of the 
Legislature, and in which, as Chairman of the Standing 



36 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

committee on Commerce and Navigation, he rendered 
invaluable service to the State. 

In person he is rather below the medium size ; is 
thin visaged, with a quick, active step, sharp, blue eyes, 
and a high intellectual forehead. 



TRUMAN BOARDMAN. 

Senator Boardman was born in February, in the year 
1810, and is therefore forty-nine years of age. He 
is a thorough-bred Yankee, and a native of the town 
of Covert, Seneca county, N. Y., where he has alwa3 r s 
resided. His father, Allyn Boardman, became a resident 
of that place in 1799, and followed the occupation of 
a tanner and courrier. He had four sons, of whom 
Truman is the third, Douglas Boardman, recently Judge 
and Surrogate of Tompkins county, being the youngest. 
He succeeded, by his industry and perseverance, in the 
acquisition of considerable wealth, during his life time, 
and the subject of this sketch now owns, and is living 
upon a portion of the old homestead place. 

Senator Boardman was raised on a farm, and although 
he received a thorough English education in his native 
place, has, from his youth up, been given quite as 
much to the rod and the gun as to books. He has 
always been an active, thorough going, business man, 
but has occupied most of his time in farming, in which 
he is still partially engaged. In 1849, the Whigs of 
the town where he resides, presented his name to the 
people as a candidate for Supervisor, and he was success- 
ful by a flattering majority. He was again elected in 
1851 and '52, and, in all, held the office three years, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 37 

discharging Ids duties with credit to himself and entire 
satisfaction to his constituents. In 1851, he was a can- 
didate for the Assembly against Robert R. Steele, but 
was defeated, although polling an unusually large vote 
in the district. In the fall of 1857, he was brought 
forward as the Republican candidate for Senator from 
the Twenty-sixth district, against W. W. Wright, 
Democratic, and W. H. Lamport, the American candi- 
date, and was triumphant by a fair plurality over both 
his competitors. Thus far he has proven himself a safe 
counselor and a good legislator, and although not so 
boisterous and talkative as some of his compeers, has 
pursued a straight forward, consistent, quiet, and indus- 
trious course in the Senate, which has doubtless not 
failed to have the proper influence upon the deliberations 
of that body. No one is probably more punctual in 
their attendance at the sittings of the Senate, and he 
was not absent from his seat more than once or twice 
during the entire session of the last Legislature. He 
is a man of strong common sense, and few men possess 
a deeper insight into human nature, or judge more 
accurately as to men's objects and real motives. His 
greatest fault is a natural diffidence, which causes him 
to distrust his own ability, and a degree of modesty 
that shuns responsibility. To be appreciated he must 
be well known, aud the more thoroughly he is known, 
the higher will he be esteemed and confided in. 

Senator Boardman was always a Whig, until that party 
lost its identity, when he became, and has always since 
been, a member of the Republican organization. He 
makes no pretensions as a speaker, but when once 
thoroughly waked up on a subject, seldom finds it diffi- 
cult to forcibly express his ideas, in a proper shape, 
In arriving at conclusions on any question, he advances 



38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

cautiously and by a process of sound reasoning, and 
when his judgment is once formed, nothing less nor 
more will induce him to change it, than a similar 
process of ratiocination. He is frank and generous in 
character, and affable in manner, and has many personal 
and political friends wherever he is known. 

In 1834 Senator Boardman was united in marriage 
to Miss A. C. Whiting, of Litchfield county, Conn. In 
person he is heavy, square, and stoutly built ; has black 
hair, and heavy, black whiskers, slightly mixed with 
gray ; a full, dark blue eye ; and a round, healthy face. 
His general appearance indicates excellent health, and 
great powers of physical endurance. 



BENJAMIN BRANDRETH. 

Senator Brandreth, the celebrated pill manufacturer 
and vendor, whose medicine has given him a world-wide 
reputation, is a native of Newtown, Derbyshire, Eng- 
land, and is fifty years of age. He is a grandson of 
the late celebrated Dr. William Brandreth, whose rep- 
utation as a physician in England was for many years 
unequaled by any of his professional compeers, and he 
is a fair representative of His Majesty, John Bull. He 
possesses an excellent business education, and was for a 
long time engaged in the pill business, previous to his 
coming to the United States. He introduced his medi- 
cines into this country on the 18th of May, 1835, 
though they had been before the public in Europe for 
nearly a century before. Some physicians in America 
have long regarded his pills as admirably adapted "to 
make sound men sick ? and sick men kill;" but the rapid 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 39 

sale with which they have met in this and all other 
countries, and the immense amount of wealth resulting 
from their sale, are certainly strong evidence that they 
are an effectual remedy for 

"All maladies, 
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms 
Of heart-sick agony ; all feverish kinds ; 
Convulsions, epilipsies, fierce catarrhs ; 
Intestine stone and ulcers ; cholic pangs, 
Demoniac phrensy, moping melancholy, 
And moon-struck madness ; pining atrophy, 
Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence : 
Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums." 

Senator Brandreth has never been much of a politi- 
cian, it being too wide of his regular profession — an 
occupation to which he has been schooled from his ear- 
liest childhood. He has not much faith in the profes- 
sional politician, disdaining to become one himself, and 
with the poet, believes that 

" A politician, Proteus-like, must alter 
His face and habit; and, like water, seem 
Of the same color that the vessel is 
That doth contain it, varying his form, 
With the chameleon, at each object's change." 

In 1849, the Democrats of the Seventh district pre- 
sented him to the people as a candidate for the Senate, 
and succeeded in electing him by a complimentary majo- 
rity. During the two succeeding years which he spent 
in that body, he acquired considerable reputation as a 
shrewd and somewhat sagacious representative,, and at 
the expiration of his term of office, returned to a grate- 
ful constituency. He then remained a silent spectator 
in the political arena, devoting his whole time to the 
manufacture and vending of his celebrated "life pre- 
servers," until the fall of 1857, when his Democratic 
friends, in what is now the Eighth district, entered him 



40 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

again as a competitor for the seat which he now occupie3 
in the Senate, and achieved his election by upwards of 
one thousand majority over a combination of Democrats 
and Americans. During the last session of the Legisla- 
ture, he acquitted himself creditably, and no doubt 
satisfactorily to his constituency ; and has entered upon 
the present session with the will and determination to 
serve his country and the State to the best of his ability. 
In person, Senator Brandreth is fine looking, and 
peculiarly attractive in his general appearance. He is 
about medium in height, with a well formed body ; has 
light, auburn hair, with an occasional streak of silver 
running through it ; a heavy, gray beard, neatly trim- 
med ; a pleasing, light blue eye ; a full, round face ; 
and an intelligent and benevolent countenance. He is 
a man of fine social qualifications, but seldom exercises 
them to much advantage, being often stiff to a repulsive 
degree, and keeping a close eye to the best interests of 
11 Dr. Brandreth." — eccupet extremum scabies. 



EDWARD I. BURHANS. 

Senator Burhans was born on the 25th of March, 
1804, in the town of Roxbury, Delaware county, N. Y., 
one of the finest grazing sections of country in the State. 
He is the eldest son of John E. Burhans, a prominent 
and influential man, who emigrated from Ulster county 
to Delaware when it was first settled, and who resided 
there till his death in 1838. On his father's side he is 
of Holland extraction, and on his mother's, French. 
In early life he had no educational advantages, having 
received all the schooling he has at the age of twelve 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 41 

years, but since then he has been a diligent student, and 
by his own individual exertions has succeeded in acquir- 
ing a good, practical business education. In 1818, he 
was hired out to work for a neighbor, by his father, who 
received his wages until he had arrived at the age of 
twenty-one, when he embarked in the mercantile busi- 
ness, as a partner with Col. Noah Dimmick, in the town 
of Middletown, and remained in business with him until 
1828, when he engaged in the same trade with his 
brother, in Roxbury. This partnership existed till 
1836, when he went into the mercantile business on his 
own responsibility, and has been so engaged ever since. 
Senator Burhans has frequently been Supervisor in 
the town of Roxbury, where he still resides. He was 
elected a Justice of the Peace, in 1829, and held the 
office sixteen years. During this period he was also 
postmaster about thirteen years, and in 1814 was 
elected to the Assembly, where he was an influential 
member of the Standing Committee on Claims. In 1845, 
he was appointed one of the Judges of the county of 
Delaware, by Grov. Wright, and held the office until the 
new constitution went into effect. In 1857, he was 
nominated with unusual unanimity as a candidate for 
Senator from the Fourteenth district, composed of the 
counties of Delaware, Schoharie and Schenectady, and 
although the district is generally closely contested, he 
was elected by about one thousand plurality. The 
nomination was entirely unsolicited by him, he prefer- 
ring to devote his whole time and attention to his own 
private affairs, but it was nevertheless successfully 
urged upon him. He entered upon his new position as 
Senator at the opening of the last session of the Legis- 
lature, with the experience of a successful, practical 
man, and has thus far succeeded in discharging his Sen- 



42 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

atorial duties with credit to himself and entire satisfac- 
tion to his constituents. 

Senator Burhans has always been a Democrat, and 
cast his first vote for Gen. Jackson, when Old Hickory 
was first a candidate for President of the United States. 
He has never been a politician, preferring his own pri- 
vate occupation to the intrigue and turmoil of a politi- 
cal life, and has always been emphatically a business 
man. When he started in life his strong right arm was 
his only capital, but, by industry, frugality and hard 
labor, he has succeeded in the honest acquisition of 
a competency for the remainder of his days. He 
attends the Dutch Reformed church, and has never been 
illiberal in his contributions to religious objects. He 
was united in marriage in 1837, to Miss Mary More, 
who died April, 1857, and by whom he has two chil- 
dren. He seldom addresses the Senate, and being 
desirous of disposing of the legislative business of the 
State with as little talking as possible, would doubtless 
be highly gratified to see his compeers follow his exam- 
ple to a greater extent than they now do. 

In stature Senator Burhans is above the medium 
height, but although stoutly built, with a heavy, mus- 
cular frame, he exhibits unmistakable signs of having 
been a very hard-working man. He has heavy, black 
hair, black eyes, a dark complexion, and strongly 
marked features, with a high, retreating forehead, and 
altogether, is well calculated to leave the impression, 
by his personal appearance, that he is entirely compe- 
tent to discharge properly the duties of his position in 
the Senate. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 43 



JOHN P. DARLING. 

Senator Darling is a native of Berkshire county 
Mass. He was born on the 25th of February, 1815. 
His father, Bufus Darling, emigrated to New York in 
1818, and settled in the town of Lenox, in Madison 
county. He was a practical farmer, and removed to 
Cattaraugus county, in 1824, where he resided till 1828, 
when he died at Black Bock, while absent from home, 
at the age of forty-seven. His wife, the mother of the 
subject of this sketch, is still living, and has attained 
the advanced age of seventy-two. Her family were 
from Wales, and her husband was of English descent. 

Senator Darling received all his education in an old 
log school-house, in Cattaraugus county, where his 
father lived. He advanced in arithmetic as far as the 
Single Bule of Three, and was taught to about the same 
extent in some of the more ordinary English branches 
of a common school. At the age of thirteen, after his 
father's death, he remained at home, with his mother, 
working out occasionally for himself, until he was about 
sixteen years old, when he employed himself on the 
Alleghany river as a raftsman. In the Spring of 1831 
he descended the river, in this capacity, to the Ohio, 
and thence to Louisville, Ky. During the trip, which 
embraced a considerable period, he did all his own 
cooking, and had scarcely any thing more for a bed 
than, as he expresses it, "the soft side of a pine plank." 
In the fall of 1831 he went on to Grand Island, in Niag- 
ara river, where he spent the greater portion of that 
winter in cutting cord wood, at a certain sum per cord. 
In the spring of 1833 he hired himself out to work on 
a farm in Otto, Cattaraugus county, where he remained a 



44 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

large portion of the time, till 1834, when he became a 
clerk in a dry good store in the village of Waverly, in 
that town. Here he remained about four years, when 
he went into the mercantile trade as a partner in the 
same place, and continued the copartnership until 1848, 
when he embarked in the same business on his own re- 
sponsibility, In 1851 he started a branch establish- 
ment at Cattaraugus, on the NewYork and Erie I^ail 
Road, and in 1853, sold out at Waverly and removed 
to Cattaraugus, where he now resides, and where he 
followed the mercantile trade till 1856, when he finally 
disposed of his business altogether. 

In 1837 Senator Darling was appointed Inspector of 
Elections, and held the place for several years. In 
1838 he was elected Town Clerk of Otto, and held the 
office at different periods for several years. In 1845 
he was elected Supervisor of that town, which position 
he also held several years. He was subsequently 
elected to the same office in the town where he now 
resides. In 1850, he was appointed Postmaster, under 
President Taylor, in the town of Otto, and held the 
office during his and Mr. Fillmore's administration. In 
1851 he was elected Treasurer of Cattaraugus county, 
and held the office three years. In the fall of 1856 he 
was elected by a majority of eight thousand to the 
Senate, from the Thirty-second district, to fill the 
unexpired term of Hon. Roderick White, who died in 
the spring of that year. He was again nominated by 
the Republican party in 1857, for the same position, and 
was elected to the seat he now occupies by a majority of 
nearly four thousand. As chairman of the Senate Stand- 
ing Committee on Railroads, he performed his duties 
faithfully during the last session of the Legislature, and 
has shown himself more a man of action than of words. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 45 

Senator Darling lias always been strongly Free Soil 
in all his views and feelings, but never failed to act with 
the Whig party when it had an organization. Shortly 
after the American party came into existance, he 
warmly espoused its leading principles, and continued 
to act with that party until Mr. Fillmore was nominated 
for the Presidency, when he abandoned the party, and 
subsequently took the stump in behalf Col. Fremont. 
Since then he has been emphatically a Republican, 
strongly opposed to the further extension of slavery. 
He labored pretty thoroughly throughout the Presiden- 
tial contest of 1856, and undoubtedly contibuted his 
full share of strength and influence to the Republican 
cause. 

' Senator Darling was married in the fall of 1838, to 
Miss Abiah Strickland, by whom he has two children — 
daughters. Her father, John Strickland, was a success- 
ful farmer, in Cattaraugus county, where he died, in 
1847, at the age of fifty-six. 

The Senator is a tall, broad shouldered, fine looking 
man, with black hair and whiskers ; a rather thin, sal- 
low countenance, sharp, black eyes, and is emphatically 
a gentleman / commanding the unqualified respect and 
esteem of all who know him. 



ALEXANDER S. DIVEN. 

Senator Diven was born on the 10th of February, 
1810, about a mile west of the village of Watkins, in 
what was then Tioga, afterwards Chemung, and now 
Schuyler co., N. Y. Both his paternal and maternal 
ancestors were Irish, and his grand-parents were both 



46 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

born in Ireland. His father and mother were natives 
of Pennsylvania, and his mother's parents were among 
the sufferers of the Wyoming valley. His father, while 
apprenticed to a mechanic, in the city of Carlisle, 
enlisted in the Revolutionary struggle. He was among 
the Pennsylvania volunteers in the forlorn winter quar- 
ters, at Valley Forge, and joined Gen. Washington's 
army on the day of the battle of Princetown. He 
speedily rose to the rank of a Lieutenant, and received 
a Captain's commission immediately after the close of 
the war. He was in command of a company detailed 
to suppress the famous liquor insurrection during Wash- 
ington's second administration, and subsequently set- 
tled on Duncan's Island, a delightful spot of about 
one thousand acres, situated in the Susquehanna, at 
the mouth of the Juniatta river. Here he lived until 
about the year 1790, when his title to the island having 
been pronounced invalid, he removed to Western New 
York, and purchased a farm on the west side of Seneca 
lake, where the subject of this sketch was born. 

Senator Diven's education, until he was seventeen 
years old, was only such as the common schools of his 
native town afforded at that early day. He did not 
attend school constantly, however, and was obliged to 
labor on his father's farm during the summer, in order 
that he might go to school during the winter. At the 
age of eighteen he left home, and spent a year at the 
Yates County academy, which was then first opened. 
He shortly after entered the Ovid academy, where he 
was finally enabled to complete his education, by teach- 
ing in the summer, and keeping up with his class during 
the winter. In the spring of 1831, he entered the 
office of H. Gray, at Elmira, as a student at law, still 
dividing his time between study and school teaching, in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 47 

order to support himself, where he remained until 1833, 
when he entered the office of F. M. Haight, at Roches- 
ter. Here he remained about six months, when he went 
to Owego, Tioga county, to take charge of the County 
Clerk's office, and remained there, devoting all his spare 
time to his legal studies, until the spring of 1835, when 
he went to Angelica, Alleghany county, and formed a 
law partnership with George Miles, a lawyer of com- 
manding ability and large practice. Shortly after, in 
183G, he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court 
of the State, and in 1838 was appointed District Attor- 
ney of Alleghany county, which office he filled four 
years. About this time his partner removed to Michi- 
gan, where he was afterwards Justice of the Supreme 
Court of that State. While residing at Angelica, Mr. 
Diven's practice was large, and extended to many of 
the neighboring counties. He speedily acquired a com- 
manding position, as a lawyer, in that section of the 
State, and for a period of six years, -there were few 
causes tried in Angelica Court House, in which he was 
not on one side, and Judge Grover, one of the best jury 
lawyers in the State, on the other. In 1846, he left 
Angelica, and settled on " Willow Brook farm," near 
the village of Elmira, where he still resides. In 1847, 
he formed a law partnership with Col. S. Gr. Hathaway 
and James L. Woods, under the firm of Diven, Hatha- 
way & Woods, which still exists. 

Since 1844 Senator Diven has been considerably inter- 
rupted in the prosecution of his profession, by being en- 
listed in various railroad enterprizes. In that year he 
was solicited by the stockholders of the New York and 
Erie railroad to become a director in that company, 
which was then insolvent, being indebted to the State 
in the sum of three millions, and to other creditors 



48 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

half a million of dollars ; and so deeply were the south- 
western counties interested in the construction of the 
road, that he consented to undertake, with a company 
of efficient men in New York city, the Herculean task 
of completing the road. Until this object was at- 
tained, much of his industry and energy were devoted 
to its accomplishment. At a later period, he became 
President of the Williamsport and Elmira road during 
its construction, and contracted for the road connecting 
it with the Reading road, and thus forming a direct line 
to Philadelphia. He was also interested in the con- 
struction of the roads running north of Elmira ; and is 
now engaged in the construction of an important road 
in Missouri. 

Senator Diven cast his first vote for Gen. Jackson, at 
his first election. In the great contest of 1840, he took 
the stump with a good deal of zeal in behalf of the Demo- 
cratic ticket ; and in 1843 was the unsuccessful Demo- 
cratic candidate in his district for the Assembly. He 
was not an active politician at this time, but always 
continued to vote with the Democratic party, until it 
adopted the doctrine of Gen. Cass's celebrated Nicholson 
letter, when he abandoned it. It is true, he was the 
unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the Assembly in 
1854, in his district, but he was only induced to allow his 
name to be used by his friends, who desired his election, 
in order to secure some local improvements at the hands 
of the Legislature. After leaving the Democratic party 
he paid but little attention to politics, until the repeal of 
the Missouri compromise, which at once aroused him from 
his political lethargy. He took a prominent and influen- 
tial part in the campaign of 1856, in behalf of Col. Fre- 
mont, and canvassed all the counties in the south-west- 
ern part of this State, and the north-western part of 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 40 

Pennsylvania. He was nominated for the seat now oc- 
cupied by hiin in the Senate, without his knowledge and 
against his consent, but was triumphant by a handsome 
majority, and during the last session of the Legislature 
proved himself a man of sound judgement and an hon- 
est, industrious, straight-forward and eloquent states. 
man. 

Senator Diven was married in 1835, to Miss Amanda 
Beers, of Elmira, by whom he has eight children — four 
sons and four daughters. He is a member of the Pres- 
byterian church, having been reared in that faith. 



JOHN DOHERTY. 

Senator Doherty was born on the 16th of January, 
1826, on the corner of Jacob and Ferry streets, in the 
city of New York. He sprung from genuine Irish 
stock, and is the oldest of four brothers, all of whom 
are still living. His father, Patrick Doherty, emigrated 
to New York, from Ireland, about the year 1811, and 
took an active part in the war of 1812. His occupation 
was that of a contractor, in which he was eminently 
successful, and he died in 1849, at the age of fifty-five. 
His wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, is 
still living, and is about fifty years of age, although 
looking nearly as young as her son John. 

Senator Doherty was educated at a private select 
school in his native city, and pursued a classical course. 
Although, even then, 

" Forever foremost in the ranks of fun, 

The laughing herald of the harmless pun," 
4 



50 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

he was not inattentive to his studies, and at the close 
of his academic career, was a good practical scholar. 
At the age of sixteen he entered the law office of Messrs. 
Sandsfords & Porter, a well known firm in the city of 
New York, where he remained about six years, when he 
was admitted to the bar. Subsequently, he hung out 
his shingle, as one of the legal fraternity, on the corner 
of Broadway and Wall street, and followed the practice 
of his profession nearly two years, when his father's 
death occurring, he was obliged to abandon his office, 
to take charge of the affairs pertaining to his father's 
unsettled estate. About this time he was brought for- 
ward as the Democratic candidate, in his district, for 
the Assembly, but was defeated by a very small majo- 
rity. In 1850, he was nominated for Assistant Alder- 
man, and was again defeated, with nearly all the candi- 
dates on the Democratic ticket. In the following year 
he was nominated for Alderman from the Nineteenth 
ward, which was then strongly Whig, and was elected. 
He served in the board of Aldermen two years, and was 
associated in that body with such men as Mayor Tieman. 
The canvass which followed his nomination for this office 
was probably the most exciting and warmly contested 
one that had ever taken place in the city of New York. 
He enlisted, however, in the cause with the will and 
the determination to triumph, closely contesting every 
inch of political ground in controversy, and after a hard 
fought battle, came out of the struggle victoriously. In 
the fall of 1857, he was nominated, against strong 
influences and some very worthy competitors, by the 
Democrats of the Seventh district, as a representative 
in the Senate, and was elected to the seat now occupied 
by him in that body, by an overwhelming vote. During 
this campaign, he was, also, actively engaged in the con- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 51 

test, and addressed his fellow-citizens at every promi- 
nent point in the district. 

Senator Doherty has always been a staunch, unwa- 
vering Democrat of the Hard Shell stamp. He belongs 
to the Catholic Church, and is still a single man. He 
is of medium stature in person ; is somewhat inclined 
to corpulency, and burly, bluff looking ; has light hair, 
a goatee a la French style ; a full face ; a droll, good 
natured countenance ; a large, soft, humorous blue eye, 
and a hearty grasp of the hand for all his friends. He 
possesses more than ordinary natural ability, and by 
confining himself somewhat more closely to study, could 
easily climb higher rounds in the ladder of distinction. 
His colloquial powers are of a splendid order, and he is 
a rare humorist. He is quite urbane and pleasant in his 
address, graceful and dignified in his general deport- 
ment ; belongs to the class of good fellows, and is very 
popular among the great mass of his immediate constitu- 
ents. He is always active and energetic in the deli- 
berations of the Senate ; has a good voice ; is a pleasing 
speaker ; addresses the Senate frequently, but 

" He is so full of pleasing anecdote, 
So rich, so gay, so poignant in his wit, 
Time vanishes before him as he speaks." 



SMITH ELY, Jr. 

Senator Ely is about thirty years of age ; is a bach- 
elor ; and, with the exception of Col. Pratt, is the 
youngest man in the Senate. He was born in Morris 
county, N. J., and his parents removed to the city of New 
York, when he was a few months old, since which time 



52 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

he has constantly resided in the district he now repre- 
sents. He was educated as a lawyer ; but after spend- 
ing four years in the study of the profession, was 
obliged to abandon it, in consequence of impaired sight, 
induced by too close application. Quitting the legal 
fraternity he then embarked in the leather trade, in 
Ferry st., N. Y., where he was engaged until about 
two years since, when his connection with his partner 
having expired by limitation, he withdrew from active 
business with an ample fortune. It is said, however, 
that he still retains some interest in the leather trade 
in New York, and is connected with some tanning estab- 
lishments in this State and Pennsylvania. 

Senator Ely has been quite prominent in the literary 
circles of New York during the past ten years, and has 
been proprietor of, or a regular contributor to, a number 
of the periodicals published in that city and Boston. 
He had never held, or been a candidate for office 
previous to the campaign of 1857, except that of trustee 
of public schools, which he now holds. His course in 
the administration of the affairs of the schools, while 
designed to develop the practical advantages of the 
system, has been characterized by the most rigid 
economy. In the school district under his supervision, 
which has an attendance of about seven thousand chil- 
dren, the average expense per scholar is less than one 
half the cost in other districts in the city, and forty per 
cent less than the general average of the whole city. 

Senator Ely has participated actively in politics only 
during the past two or three years. He was elected 
a member of the New York Democratic General 
Committee for 1857, and took his seat in January of 
that year. Shortly after, as is well known by city pol- 
iticians, a movement was made to change the organiza- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 53 

tion of the party in that city, ostensibly to reform the 
system of primary elections. This movement resulted 
in the establishment of two General committees, each 
claiming to represent the city Democracy. He adhered 
to the organization of which Wilson Small was chair- 
man, and in September, 1857, was elected a delegate to 
the State convention at Syracuse, where a settlement was 
effected of the differences between the rival committees, 
he being admitted (separate) as one of the joint delegates 
to the convention, in which he took an active part in the 
nomination of the Democratic State ticket that was sub- 
sequently elected, and which, it is generally conceded, 
has not been surpassed for respectability and competency 
by any ticket nominated by the Democratic party for 
many years. 

Senator Ely represents the most populous district in 
the State — a district containing nearly two hundred 
thousand inhabitants. The late Senator, Joseph H. 
Petty, and Col. Pinckney, were his opposing candi- 
dates, but he was elected by an overwhelming major- 
ity, having received about three-fourths of all the 
votes cast. It is said, that he received the vote of 
every man in the district with whom he was person- 
ally acquainted, which was certainly a high compli- 
ment in these days of party discipline and prejudice. 
He appears to be devoting himself in the Senate to 
matters pertaining to the immediate interests of his 
constituents, and to those benevolent institutions in 
the city of New York and the State, with which he 
has been intimately associated, and with the merits of 
which he is perfectly familiar. His Senatorial career 
during the last session of the Legislature, was alike 
creditable to himself and satisfactory, as well as emi- 
nently beneficial, to his constituency. 



54 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Senator Ely is somewhat tall and slender in stature ; 
has dark hair and eyes ; nicely trimmed side whiskers ; 
and a pale, intellectual face. He is kind and unassum- 
ing in his manner ; generous and hospitable ; has a genial 
temper ; a clear mind ; and, though no orator, is always 
terse and effective in his remarks to the Senate. 



JOHN J. FOOTE. 

Senator Foote was born in the town of Hamilton, 
Madison county, N. Y., on the 11th of February, 
1816. He is a son of John Foote, Esq., a prominent 
lawyer in the village of Hamilton, and a grandson of 
Judge Isaac Foote, of Chenango county, who was a 
soldier of the Revolution ; one of the representatives, 
from 1802 till 1805, from the western Senatorial 
district, under the Constitution of 1777, and who died 
in 1843, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. 

On his father's side Senator Foote is of English 
descent, and on his mother's, Scotch. He was educated 
at the Hamilton academy, and partially pursued a 
classical course. After finally leaving school, in 1836, 
he became a clerk in a store in his native place which 
belonged to his father, though he had previously spent 
considerable time in the establishment, and, in fact, 
took the almost exclusive charge of it, when only about 
fourteen years of age. He occupied this position until 
1838, when he embarked in the mercantile trade for 
himself, and has been so engaged ever since, in his 
native town. He is a prompt, active, straight-forward, 
thorough-going, consistent, and honest business man, 
and has been eminently successful in all his business 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 55 

transactions. He has not been a speculator, venturing 
outside of his regular calling to engage in doubtful 
financial schemes or enterprises, but has pursued a 
steady, quiet, and attentive course in his occupation as 
a merchant, until he has succeeded in the acquisition of 
an honest competency. 

Senator Foot has often been pressed to accept nomi- 
nations for office, but has invariably declined, except in 
cases of town offices — such as Inspector or Superintend, 
ent of Common schools and Supervisor. In 1853 he 
received the unanimous nomination of the Whigs of the 
Twentieth district, composed of Madison and Oswege 
counties, for a seat in the Senate, but peremptorily 
declined being a candidate, in 1854 he was elected 
Supervisor of the town of Hamilton, and again in 1856, 
holding the post of chairman of the Board during both 
terms. In the fall of 1857 the Senatorial convention 
of the Republican party in the Twenty-third district,, 
brought him forward as its candidate, and he was 
elected to the seat now filled by him in the Senate, by 
three thousand five hundred and sixty-six majority over 
the Democratic candidate, and upwards of two thousand 
majority over the combined vote of the Democratic and 
American candidates. 

Senator Foot was formerly a Seward Whig, but when 
the Missouri Compromise was repealed he identified 
himself with the Republican movement. He was 
among the first to take an active part in the organiza- 
tion of the Republican party in Madison county, and was 
a delegate to the first Anti-Nebraska State convention, 
held at Saratoga in 1854. He was, also, a member of the 
convention subsequently held at Auburn, where the 
Republican movement was inaugurated, and in 1855 was a 
delegate to the Republican State convention at Syracuse. 



56 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

In 1840 Senator Foote was married to Miss Mary, 
daughter of the Hon. Amos Crocker, a prominent mer- 
chant in the village of Hamilton, and a lady much 
admired for her intelligence and excellency of character. 
He has three children — one boy and two girls. He attends 
the Presbyterian church, but exemplifies the true chris- 
tian character more by his uprightness and integrity as 
a man, than a mere conformity to religious customs and 
formalities. He is a person of medium height ; has 
brown silvered hair and brown whiskers ; large grey 
eyes, and a prominent, intellectual forehead. He sel- 
dom addresses the Senate, but during the last session 
of the Legislature proved himself a practical working 
member, as Chairman of the Standing Committee on 
Militia and a member of the Committee on Banks and 
Literature. It can, indeed, safely be said that no man 
has been less ambitious of political preferment or more 
faithful in the discharge of his duties as a public officer 
than Senator Foote. 



JOHN B. HALSTED. 

Senator Halsted is the oldest man in the Senate. 
He was born on the 7th of November, 1798, in Pitts- 
ton, Luzerne county, Penn., in the valley of the 
Wyoming. He is of English and partially of Irish 
descent. His parents were both born in Orange county, 
N. Y., and his father was a soldier throughout the 
Revolutionary war. He emigrated to Pennsylvania 
about the year 1795, and after living in that State until 
the year 1817, returned to New York, and settled in 
what was then Ontario county. He was a farmer, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 57 

died about thirty-six years ago, at the age of sixty- 
three. His wife, the mother of John, died about the 
same time, and was about fifty-five years of age. 

Senator Halsted did not enjoy the advantages of a 
regular course of education. His father, who remained 
poor in consequence of his having lost his health, dur- 
ing his services in the Revolution, could render him 
no material assistance, and he was thrown almost exclu- 
sively upon his own resources at a comparatively early 
age. After receiving the benefits afforded by a com- 
mon district school in those days, he took charge of a 
school himself, teaching during the winter, and work- 
ing at the carpenter and joiner's trade during the sum- 
mer, until he was about twenty-four years of age, when 
his health failing, he turned his attention to the study 
of medicine. He devoted himself closely to his studies 
for some time, when, discovering that his health was 
still growing worse, he embarked in the mercantile 
business, in which he has been engaged ever since. 
About the year 1827 he removed across the G-enesee 
river into Wyoming county, then Genesee county, 
where he has always since been a resident. He was 
married on the 26th of October, 1832, to Miss Eunice 
Talcott, of Vernon, Tolland county, Conn., a daughter 
of Deacon Phineas Talcott, of that place, and has never 
had any children. He was brought up a Baptist, but 
now attends the Presbyterian church. 

Senator Halsted was formerly a strong Seward Whig, 
and was actively engaged in the promotion of the princi- 
ples of that party, until it lost its organization, when he 
enlisted in the Republican ranks. With the exception 
of a few unimportant town offices, he never held any 
public position until 1855, when he was presented to 
the people of the Thirtieth district, then composed 






58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of the counties of Allegany and Wyoming, as the 
Republican candidate for Senator, and was elected by 
about fourteen hundred majority. He was re-nomina- 
ted for the Senate by the Republicans of the same dis- 
trict, in the fall of 1857, and was again successful by a 
majority of about thirty-six hundred. Shortly after 
taking his seat at the opening of the last session of the 
Legislature, he was elected President pro tern, of the 
Senate, and was presiding officer of that body in the 
absence of the Lieutenant-Governor. Being the oldest 
member of the Senate, he held forth with becoming 
dignity and impartiality, and discharged his duties faith- 
fully, both in that capacity, and as chairman of the 
Standing Committee on Cities and Villages. 

In person Senator Halsted is somewhat above the 
medium height ; his light gray hair ; a peculiar brown 
eye ; sharp features ; a pale face, denoting general 
debility, and is of the nervous temperment. He has 
never been an inactive politician, and while cheerfully 
conceding to others the undisputed right to think and 
act for themselves on all public and private questions, 
is very decided and uncompromising in his political 
views, when once thoroughly formed. He is a fair 
speaker, but seldom participates, to any extent, in the 
discussions of the Senate. He is courteous and unas- 
suming in his manner, and is deservedly popular 
wherever he is known. Doubtless the interests of his 
constituents are perfectly safe in his hands. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 59 



ALRICK HUBBELL. 

Senator Hubbell is a large, healthy, robust, vigorous 
man, being six feet in height, and weighing nearly two 
hundred pounds, and at once strikes the close observer 
as possessing some representative ability. He is per- 
fectly straight ; walks as erect as an Indian ; has heavy, 
dark brown hair, somewhat mixed with gray ; a full face ; 
and dark brown eyes. He seldom speaks in the Senate, 
but is a heavy worker, never failing to fulfill all hi3 
duties as a legislator. 

Senator Hubbell was born on the 4th of October, 
1801, in Utica, Oneida county, N. Y., where he has 
always resided. He is of Welch descent. His father, 
Mathew Hubbell, emigrated to New York from Berk- 
shire county, Mass., in 1789, and settled in Oneida 
county, which was then a part of Herkimer county. 
He was in the Revolutionary war, and was at the battle 
of Bennington, in 1777. He, also, took an active part 
in the war of 1812, during his services in which he 
contracted a severe cold, at Sackett's Harbor, which 
finally, in 1819, terminated in his death. He was a 
successful farmer, and died at the age of fifty-seven. 

After his father's death, Senator Hubbell remained 
at home with his mother, on the farm, until he was 
twenty-four years of age, going to school occasionally, 
and attending to things about the premises. This was 
all the schooling he ever received, and on the 1st of 
January 1826, he became Deputy-Sheriff of Oneida 
county, which office he held three years. During this 
period he, also, held the position, a year, of Police 
Constable of the then village of Utica. He was one of 
the committee of young men from that village in 1825, 



60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

to celebrate the opening of the Erie canal, and was on 
the first boat, with Gov. Clinton, that came through the 
canal and entered the Hudson river at Albany. In 
June, 1826, he was married to Miss Laura E. Squire, 
of Lanesboro', Berkshire county, Mass., by whom he 
has five children living, a young lady possessing all the 
good qualities for which the Lanesboro' ladies were then 
so well known. With a capital of $1000, which was 
equal to that of his partner, Edward Curran, he went 
into the mercantile business in his native place, on the 
1st of April, 1829, and remained so engaged until 1855, 
when he retired from business, having acquired a con- 
siderable fortune. 

Senator Hubbell was elected Colonel of the 211th 
regiment, in 1827, having advanced to this position 
through all the regular gradations of military discipline. 
He held the office until 1830, when he resigned. In 
1829 he became a Fireman in the village of Utica, and 
is still connected with the department as an active 
member. He was elected Chief Engineer of the depart- 
ment in 1836, and filled the position about ten years. 
In 1840 he was the successful Whig candidate for 
Alderman in a ward that was then strongly Democratic, 
and held the office two years. In the summer of 1856 
he was a delegate to the National Republican conven- 
tion at Philadelphia, and took an active part in the 
nomination of Col. Fremont for the Presidency. He 
was elected Mayor of the city of Utica in the same year, 
and was re-elected in the spring of 1857. Besides these, 
he has held various other responsible positions, though 
not of a political character. 

Senator Hubbell began his political career as a warm 
friend of Gov. Clinton, and his first vote for Governor 
was cast for him for that office. He was one of the origi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 61 

nal Whigs, and always acted zealously with that party 
while it retained its organization. He was a very warm 
personal and political friend of Gen. Taylor, for whose 
election as President of the United States, he labored 
zealously throughout the contest of 1848, as president 
of the "Rough and Ready Club" of the city of Utica, 
and a "high private" in the Whig ranks. The Whig 
party having ceased to exist, he joined the Republican 
party, where he has ever since remained. During the 
campaign of 1856, he was president of the " Fremont 
Club," at Utica, and in 1857 was elected by a large 
Republican vote, to his present position in the Senate, 
where, during the last session of the Legislature, he 
rendered some service to the State as chairman of the 
Standing Committee on Insurance Companies. 

Senator Hubbell is a member of the Baptist church, 
and and has been a trustee of that denomination for 
twenty-eight years. He is active and influential in all 
the transactions of the church, and as regularly as Sab- 
bath rolls around, is present to instruct a Bible class 
which he has had under his immediate charge for many 
years. 



GEORGE Y. JOHNSON. 

Senator Johnson was born in 1820, in the town of 
Guilderland, Albany county, N. Y., where he has ever 
since resided. His paternal ancestors were English, 
and his mother's family came from Holland. His pater- 
nal grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier. His 
father, Dr. Jonathan Johnson, was born in Worcester 
county, Mass., and after graduating at the New York 



62 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Medical College, and spending some time in his prac- 
tice as a physician at the New York Hospital and in his 
native State, emigrated to the State of New York, about 
forty years ago, and finally settled in Gruilderland, where 
he is still a practicing physician. His wife, the mother 
of the subject of this sketch, whose maiden name was 
Gertrude Waldron, is a native of the town where the fam- 
ily now reside, and they are both in the enjoyment of 
vigorous health. It is a remarkable fact that there are 
no other Johnsons in New York who are closely related 
to this family, although the name is by no means an 
uncommon one. 

Senator Johnson was sent to a district school in his 
native town, at an early age, where he remained, until 
he was about sixteen years old, when he became a clerk 
in a dry good store in that town. Here he ramained 
in this capacity until he was nearly twenty years of age, 
when, with a small capital, he entered into the mercan- 
tile trade for himself, He remained in this business 
about ten years, when he took his brother into his estab- 
lishment as a partner, under the firm name of Gr. Y. & 
J. Johnson, which firm still continues to exist. About six 
years ago he purchased a farm in the town where he 
resides, and has since then been devoting some of his 
time and attention to the honest pursuit of the husband- 
man. During all this period, however, he has been a 
faithful student, and besides familiarizing himself with 
the study of medicine, has become well acquainted with 
the law, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar by the 
Supreme Court of New York. He has, however, never 
practiced his profession, and has always been a mer- 
chant and a farmer. 

Senator Johnson was elected Supervisor of the town 
of Guilderland in 1854, and was subsequently elected 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 63 

twice to the same position. During his second term in 
this office, he was chairman of the Board of Supervisors. 
On the 8th of October, 1857, the Americans of the 
Thirteenth district brought him forward as a candidate 
for Senator. On the 26th of the same month the 
Republican convention endorsed his nomination, and he 
was elected by a handsome majority to the seat he now 
fills in the Senate. His course in that body during the 
last session of the Legislature, as a member of the 
Standing Committees on Commerce and Grievances, 
was marked by industry and ability, and he proved him- 
self a faithful representative, both in that capacity and 
on the floor of the Senate. His speech on the Kansas 
policy of the Federal Administration, was a candid and 
convincing appeal in behalf of the principle of Popular 
Sovereignty, and, at once, established his reputation, 
throughout the State, as a man of sound judgment, 
liberal and comprehensive views, and an able defender 
of the best interests of the people. 

Senator Johnson was formerly an uncompromising 
Whig, of the Henry Clay school, and always remained 
firm in his support of the principles of that party while 
it had an organization. He early enlisted under the 
American standard, and has always since been among 
the most active, zealous and efficient members of that 
party. 

He is a man of medium height, rather heavy set, and 
will weigh about one hundred and sixty pounds. He 
has blue eyes, light brown hair and whiskers ; and is 
one of the only three bachelors in the Senate, Senators 
Ely and Doherty being the other two. He is affable 
and courteous in his manner ; is a fair speaker ; a close 
debater ; and stands high among his legislative asso- 
ciates. 



64 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ADDISON H. LAFLIN. 

Senator Laflin was born in the town of Lee, Berk- 
shire county, Mass., on the 24th of October, 1823. He 
is the eldest son of Walter Laflin, late of Lee, and now 
of Pittsfield, Mass. In 1839 he entered Williams Col- 
lege, and graduated with the second honors of his class, 
at the semi-centennial anniversary of the establishment 
of that institution, in 1843. While in college, he 
unfortunately lost the use of his eyes, to such an extent, 
that he was unable to read for nearly a year, which 
induced him to abandon his intention of preparing him- 
self for one of the learned professions. After leaving 
college he returned to his native town, and engaged in 
the mercantile business about a year. In the spring of 
1845 he removed to Hardwick, Worcester county, where 
he engaged in the manufacture of fine writing paper. 
In the fall of 1847 circumstances led him to Herkimer, 
Herkimer county, N. Y., where he purchased a building, 
and water power connected therewith, for the manufac- 
ture of fine writing paper, on an extensive scale. In 
the spring of 1849, in connection with his brother, he 
went to Herkimer to reside, and, establishing the firm 
of Laflin Brothers, commenced the manufacture of 
paper. This establishment proved to be an eminently 
successful one, and having acquired a good reputation, 
they were soon enabled to easily dispose of all their 
manufactures. The mill operated by them was, and 
still is, by far the largest of the kind in the State, 
employing about one hundred and thirty hands, and 
yielding annually a product valued at about $150,000. 
On the 1st of August, 1857, Mr. Laflin, in connection 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 65 

with his brother, sold his interest in this establishment 
to an incorporated company. 

Senator Laflin has always been a Whig of radical 
tendencies, and continued warmly attached to the in- 
terests and principles of that party, until the nomination 
of Gen. Scott, in 1852, and the abandonment by the 
party of what he regarded as its Free Soil professions. 
While continuing to act with this party, his political 
efforts had but one object, and that was the disruption 
of the two old political organizations, and the formation 
of a new organization, whose controlling principle should 
be opposition to the further extention of slavery. In 
1855, for the first time, actively and publicly, he took 
ground in favor of the formation of a new political 
party, and was among the very first in the establishment 
of such an organization in the county of Herkimer. 

In the fall of 1855 Senator Laflin received the Whig 
nomination for Senator of the Sixteenth district, then 
comprising the counties of Herkimer, Montgomery, 
Fulton, and Hamilton, which nomination he immediately 
and peremptorily declined in favor of the Hon. F. P. 
Bellinger, whose antecedents had been Democratic, and 
who received the nomination for the same office from the 
llepublican and Democratic conventions, which were 
held on the same day, and at the same place, as that 
which conferred the nomination upon Mr. Laflin. He 
took the stump for the Republican candidates in the 
fall of 1855, and again in 1856, and labored zealously 
for the success of the cause he had so warmly espoused. 

After an active canvass in Herkimer county, among 
the Republicans, in the fall of 1857, Senator Laflin was 
nominated for the seat he now occupies in the Senate. 
The Senatorial convention was composed of an equal 
number of delegates from each of the two counties con- 



66 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

stituting the district, and eacli delegation presented a 
candidate from their respective counties. Upon the 
question of locality alone, therefore, the convention 
was equally divided, and so remained for nearly twenty- 
four-hours, during all of which time the best of feeling 
prevailed. The voluntary withdrawal, however, on the 
part of the candidate from Otsego, led to the unani- 
mous nomination of Mr. Laflin, upon the motion of a 
delegate from that county. The Democratic party, 
presuming upon the existence of a strong prejudice 
among the Democratic Republicans, against one who 
had been formerly identified with the Whig party, 
endeavored to take advantage of the same by nominat- 
ing, as their candidate for Senator, from the same dis- 
trict, the Hon. Win. C. Crain, a Free Soil Democrat, 
of prominent distinction. To assist, too, in the elec- 
tion of Mr. Crain, the American candidate for Senator 
in the same district withdrew, and a cordial union was 
affected between the Democrats and Americans upon the 
same candidate. An effort was, also, made to prejudice 
the election of Mr. Laflin, by the circulation of some 
speeches or resolutions which he was said to have fav- 
ored in the days of the Maine Law excitement, intend- 
ing thereby to prejudice the hop-growing interest of 
Otsego county against him ; but notwithstanding this 
effort and combination, he led his ticket in both Otsego 
and Herkmer counties, and was elected by a majority 
of over eight hundred. 

Senator Laflin was married in 1854, to Miss Helen 
M. Hall, daughter of the Hon. Johnson Hall, of Syra- 
cuse. He attends the Reformed Dutch church, and, 
although not a member of that denomination, never 
fails to contribute a generous support to religious objects. 
He is a fine speaker, always attracting the close atten- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. G7 

tion of Lis hearers when he addresses the Senate, and 
during the last session of the Legislature was chairman 
of the Standing Committee on Manufactures and an 
influential member of the committees on Literature and 
the Militia. In person he is somewhat below the 
medium stature ; has a large head, coated with a pro- 
fusion of light brown hair ; soft, blue eyes ; strongly 
marked features ; a healthy complexion ; and an inde- 
pendent, self-conscious expression of countenance which 
indicates a proper estimate of his own abilities. 



RALPH A. LOYELAND. 

Senator Loveland was born on the borders of Lake 
Champlain, in 1819, in the town of Westport, Essex 
county, N. Y. In early life he was engaged, during 
the season of navigation, with his father, in the trans- 
portation business, going to school during the winter, 
until he was twenty-one years of age. These were all 
the educational advantages he then enjoyed, and even 
these were not very well improved, his mind having been 
too much occupied with his customary business duties 
to permit him to devote much time to study. When he 
had attained his majority, he commenced business for 
himself, without any capital ; but with a full and uncom- 
promising determination to live to some good and praise- 
worthy purpose while he did live. He began upon a 
small scale, making scarcely more than a comfortable 
living during the first few years; but his business 
gradually increased, until he dealt very extensively in 
all the staple productions consumed upon the borders 
of Champlain. He was very attentive to his business, 



68 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

always acting upon the old Ben. Franklin principle, 
"that if you don't keep the shop it won't keep you," 
and was eminently successful in all his business transac- 
tions. Notwithstanding his success, he finally disposed 
of his business. This was in 1853, when he again went 
into active employment by manufacturing pig iron, in 
which he was also decidedly successful. He then sold 
out again in 1856, since which time he has not been 
engaged in any regular employment. He has, also, been 
pretty extensively engaged in Western land speculation 
since 1847, and in this, too, has been very successful. 

Senator Loveland was elected Supervisor of the town 
in which he now resides, in 1850, and has since been 
twice re-elected to the same position. In the fall of 
1856 he was elected to the Assembly by a majority of 
about eight hundred over both the American and Demo- 
cratic candidates, and, as a member of the Standing 
Committee on Canals, was an active, influential and con- 
sistent member of that body. In the fall of 1857 he 
was again nominated for the Assembly, but declined, 
and was subsequently nominated and elected to fill the 
seat he now occupies in the Senate, and in which, dur- 
ing the last session of the Legislature, as chairman of the 
Standing Committee on State Prisons and Public 
Printing, he distinguished himself as an efficient and 
capable representative. He has never been seriously 
afflicted with an ambition for political honors or emolu- 
ments, but it has become proverbial, in the section of 
the State where he resides, that his nomination for an 
office is invariably the sure harbinger of his election. 

Senator Loveland was formerly a Whig, a devoted 
admirer of Henry Clay, and is a strong, uncompromis- 
ing partisan. He was a delegate to the first Anti-Ne- 
braska State convention ever held in the State, at Sar- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 69 

atoga in the fall of 1854, and early identified himself with 
the Republican movement, always believing the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise a gross and unmitigated out- 
rage upon the whole country. Since then he has always 
occupied a bold and unflinching stand in opposition to 
the further extension of slavery, and has been a zealous, 
consistent, and disinterested advocate of all the other 
great doctrines of the Republican party. He was tri- 
umphantly elected to his place in the Senate upon this 
issue, and is fully determined to stand by it until his 
political career shall have ended. 

Senator Loveland was married in 1840, to Miss Har- 
riet M. Kent, a grand-daughter of the late Rev. Dan 
Kent, of Benson, Vt., and a young lady well known for 
her hospitality, sociability, and general intelligence. 
He is a man of medium height ; has black hair and heavy 
black whiskers ; a sharp, piercing, hazel eye, which is 
peculiarly attractive, and strongly indicative of more 
than ordinary intellectual power. He is a member of 
the Baptist church, and is deservedly popular wherever 
he is known. He seldom speaks in the Senate, but 
never fails to 

" Act well his part, there all the honor lies." 



WM. G. MANDEVILLE. 

Senator Mandeville, whose right to his seat in the 
Senate is now contested by the Hon. Henry C. Wetmore, 
was born on the 16th of August, 1807, in the town of 
Kinderhook, Columbia county, N. Y. He is descended 
from Dutch and French parentage, and his father, Jere- 
miah Mandeville, who died in 1842, at the age of seventy- 



70 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

one, was quite a successful farmer in that part of the 
Empire State. His mother is still living, at the 
advanced age of eighty three. 

Senator Mandeville was educated in a common school, 
and after learning the carriage making business, " set 
up shop " for himself in Stockport, formerly a part of 
the town of Kinderhook, where he followed his occupa- 
tion until 1836, when he purchased a farm and turned 
husbandman. He then followed the plow until 1841, 
when he sold his farm, and purchasing an extensive mill- 
ing interest at Stuyvesant Falls, in his native county, 
where he now resides, engaged in the manufacture of 
flour, paper, &c, until 1852. About this time he 
established a large paper mill in the town of Livings- 
ton, Columbia county, which he operated until 1856, 
when he sold it ; since which time he has been partially 
retired from business. 

Senator Mandeville held the office of Justice of the 
Peace, in the town of Stockport from 1836 till 1840, 
when he received the unanimous nomination of the 
Democrats of his county for the Assembly, and was 
elected by a handsome majority. In 1849 he was 
again nominated by the "Soft" section of his party 
for the Assembly, but declined in favor of the nominee 
of the " Hards." John H. Overhisen, who was elected. 
In 1850 he was again brought forward as the Demo- 
cratic candidate, but owing to a division in the party, 
was defeated by Pheletus W. Bishop. After this, he 
declined all political nominations, until the fall of 1857, 
when he was unanimously nominated for the seat he 
now occupies in the Senate. During the last session 
of the Legislature he occupied a position upon the 
Standing Committees on Roads and Bridges, Poor Laws, 
and the Division of Towns and Counties. He has, also, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



71 



occupied a prominent position as a military man, having 
arisen from the position of Cornet in the cavalry depart- 
ment, through all the military gradations, to that of 
General, his commission for which he still holds as a 
supernumerary. In politics, he is an old-fashioned Demo- 
crat, of the Jackson school, having cast his first vote for 
Old Hickory, at his first election to the Presidency in 
1828. He supported the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, 
in 1848, believing that, inasmuch as Congress, whether 
rightfully or wrongfully, had always exercised authority 
over the territories, she ought still to do so ; but he never 
did consider the subject of slavery a proper test of Demo- 
cratic faith. Since that period, however, he has alwaya 
supported the nominations of his party, and voted and 
labored for the election of Pierce and Buchanan. He 
has always been one of the most zealous and active 
politicians in Columbia county, and since a voter^ has 
never been absent from a single election. In politics, 
as in every thing else, he is an independent, straight- 
forward man, who has a will and a way of his own, and 
is always willing to allow others the same freedom he 
assumes for himself. 

In 1839 Senator Mandeville was married to Miss 
Elizabeth White, of his native place, by whom has six 
children. In person he is rather below the medium 
height ; has dark hair, well mixed with gray ; a long, 
gray beard, and a small light eye, with a frank counte- 
nance, and a good face. __ ' 
Mr. Wetmore, the contestant of Senator Mandeville s 
seat, upon the ground that the latter vacated the same 
by accepting a post-office appointment, under the Gene- 
ral government, while the former was duly elected to 
fill such vacancy, is eminently qualified to discharge the 
duties of the postion, and should he succeed in obtaining 



72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the same, will doubtless reflect credit upon himself and 
the constituency whose claims he represents. He is a 
native of the city of New York, where he was born in 
1825, and was educated at New Haven. He was sub- 
sequently engaged in the mercantile trade with his father, 
Appollos ft. Wetmore, in his native city, until about 
eight years since, when he retired from business, and 
has since then been residing, chiefly, at Fishkill, Dutch- 
ess county. Since living at that place, he has devoted 
much of his attention to literary pursuits, having pub- 
lished one or two interesting works, and having now 
almost ready for press another of superior historical 
interest. He is a fine writer, and has delivered numerous 
interesting lectures, in various sections of the country. 
In politics, Mr. Wetmore was formerly a devoted 
admirer of Henry Clay, and a strong supporter of Whig 
principles ; but at the disorganization of that party his 
conservatism led him into the American ranks, where 
he has since enacted a prominent and influential part. 
He enjoys a high degree of personal and political popu- 
larity, and stands deservedly high in the section of the 
State in which he resides. 



JOHN C. MATHER. 

Senator Mather is the only surviving son of the late 
Dr. Thaddeus Mather, of Binghamton, and a lineal 
descendant of the celebrated Cotton Mather, the famous 
New England divine, so prominent in colonial history. 
He was born in Deposit, Delaware county, N. Y., and 
is about forty years of age. He is a brother of Gren. 
Calvin E. Mather, of New York city, who died about 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 73 

five years since, and who is well remembered as a dis- 
tinguished lawyer and a brilliant orator. Within the 
past few years he has been called upon to mourn the loss 
of his father, mother, and two brothers. He received a 
liberal education, and at the age of twenty-two removed 
to Troy, where he engaged in the mercantile trade. 

Senator Mather has always been a strong National 
Democrat, and early in life entered prominently into the 
political discussions of the day. Possessed of winning 
manners and unusual firmness of purpose, he soon won 
the confidence of the people, and was twice chosen a 
member of the Common Council of the city of Troy, 
from a district largely Opposition, and at a time when 
no other Democrat on the same ticket succeeded. He 
was appointed Loan Commissioner by Gov. Bouck, and 
was re-appointed by Gov. Wright. In 1846 he was a 
member of the Democratic State convention, and took a 
prominent and active part in its deliberations. In the 
fall of 1847 he was nominated as a candidate for Canal 
Commissioner, but owing to a division in the convention 
which nominated him, and which is memorable in the 
political annals of the State, he was defeated. The 
firebrand of the Wilmot Proviso had been cast into the 
Democratic camp, and a serious struggle for the ascen- 
dency resulted in the triumph of the Hunker or Anti- 
Proviso branch of the party. The Proviso resolutions 
were laid upon the table, and a ticket composed exclu- 
sively of their opponents being nominated, his nomina- 
tion for Canal Commissioner was made on the first 
ballot. The Minority or Barnburner section then 
repudiated the action of the convention, and generally 
abstained from the polls at the election, which defeated 
the entire Democratic ticket, and threw the State into 
the hands of the Whigs. 



74 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

During the schism in the Democratic party in 1848 
and '49, Senator Mather adhered with unflinching en- 
ergy and tenacity to the National or Cass section. For 
this stand in behalf of the nationality of his party his 
political friends determined to present his name again 
to the people of the State, which they did in 1850, 
when he was a second time nominated for Canal Com- 
missioner by an emphatic majority of the State conven- 
tion, Gov. Seymour and himself being the Hunker 
representatives on the ticket, and Sanford E. Church, 
our present Comptroller, Hon. William G-. Angel, and 
Nathaniel S. Benton, our present Canal Auditor, being 
contributed from the Barnburner wing. Messrs. Sey- 
mour and Mather were subsequently endorsed by what 
was called the " Union Party " in the city of New York, 
which was composed of a large body of conservative 
Democrats and Whigs who were opposed to Northern 
sectionalism. The election resulted in the defeat of 
Gov. Seymour, by a small majority, while Messrs. 
Church, Angel, Benton and Mather were successful for 
State officers. 

As the time for holding the Democratic State Con- 
vention, in 1852, drew nigh, Senator Mather's name 
was proposed in many quarters for the office of Gover- 
nor. Delegations from the counties of Albany and 
Rensselaer were elected favorable to him, but learning 
this, he sent a communication to the convention, request- 
ing that his name should not be used in that connection, 
half his term as Canal Commissioner being yet unexpired. 
During the sessions of the legislature of 1853, the 
divisions in the Democratic party in New York, again 
broke out into open rupture, and it was at this session 
that Senator Mather's famous impeachment case was 
brought to trial. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 75 

As political parties were then constituted, three- 
fourths of the members of the Court for the Trial of 
Impeachments were politically opposed to him, hut he 
was successfully vindicated from every charge by the 
result of the investigation. The resolutions of impeach- 
ment were brought into the Assembly only a few hours 
before the close of the legislative session, but being 
informed of the report, he instantly forwarded to that 
body a communication, couched in terms at once bold 
and dignified, complaining of want of notice of the pro- 
ceedings, and demanding the hearing which had not been 
accorded to him by the committee. The session closed, 
but the Governor immediately re-convoked the legisla- 
ture, and the proceedings were continued. The Assem- 
bly then passed a resolution giving him the opportunity 
which he had demanded to reply to the charges, and this 
reply he was not long in furnishing. He sent it in to 
that body on the 30th of May, and it was generally 
conceded to be one of the ablest and most unanswerable 
documents ever presented to a legislative body. An 
effort made to return it to him received only sixteen 
votes, and fifty thousand copies were immediately ordered 
by the Assembly to be printed. It can not be doubted 
that it convinced that body and the public, of his entire 
innocence of the charges brought against him, and, 
doubtless, the whole subject would have been dismissed 
after the receipt of his communication, had not he and 
his friends demanded the form of a trial. The trial 
lasted several weeks, and its result was received with 
great acclamation from one end of the State to the 
other. 

Senator Mather has now been a resident of the city 
of New York for some years. In the fall of 1857 he 
was nominated by the Democratic convention of the 



76 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Fourth Senatorial district for the position which he now 
holds, and was successful by a majority of nine thousand 
votes over both the opposing candidates — the largest 
majority ever given for a Senator in any district in the 
State. He has, since then, been one of the most indus- 
trious, energetic, and useful members of the Senate. 
As the Democratic member of the Standing Committee 
on Canals, he presented, at the last session of the Legis- 
lature, the elaborate minority report against the expe- 
diency of tolling railroads for the benefit of the Canals, 
which, as he claimed, prevented the inauguration of a 
system fraught with danger to the freedom of trade, 
and which, if adopted, would, in his judgment, have 
inevitably resulted perniciously, not only to New York 
city, but to the entire State. Distinguished among the 
advocates of Canal improvement, as he has always been, 
the reasons given by him why one line of transportation 
should not be taxed, and partially paralized, in order to 
support another, came home, in the opinion of his 
friends, with redoubled force of disinterestedness in the 
body to which he belongs, and convinced even gentle- 
men of adverse political views, that no such inequality 
should be sanctioned. 

Senator Mather was, also, chairman of the select 
committee to which was referred the subject of the 
repeal of the Metropolitan Police Law. He made 
an exceedingly able minority report and, also, an 
eloquent speech, of which ten thousand copies were 
ordered to be printed, against the law ; but the Republi- 
can majority in the Legislature considered it an essen- 
tial party measure, and his views were consequently not 
adopted. 

But the introduction of his bill for the repeal of the 
law appointing Commissioners to build a City Hall in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 77 

the city of New York, during the last session, is the act 
which entitles him most to the special gratitude of the 
party to which he belongs. The bill passed through both 
Houses by considerable majorities, and, in his opinion, 
checked, he hoped, permanently, one of the most iniqui- 
tous schemes of political profligacy and plunder which 
has ever been lobbied through the Legislature. The 
Governor was authorized by the law repealed, to appoint, 
at a large salary, five Commissioners who would have 
been empowered to expend money to the amount of 
millions of dollars, ostensibly to erect a City Hall ; but 
in reality for the purpose of obtaining an almost unlimi- 
ted patronage for the benefit of political plunderers, 

Mr. Mather's bill limited the expediture to two hund- 
red and fifty thousand dollars ; transferred the power of 
appointing Commissioners, whose number he reduced to 
three, from the Governor to the Mayor of the city inte- 
rested in the undertaking ; and provided that the Com. 
missioners should exercise their functions without com- 
pensation. Every tax payer in the city of New York 
was directly benefitted by the timely interposition of 
this bill, and to Mr. Mather's indefatigable persever- 
ance alone are they indebted for the protection thus 
afforded them against the profligate schemes of unscru- 
pulous politicians. 

No individual connected with our State politics has 
been made the focus of more bitter antagonism than 
Senator Mather, yet owing to the singularly unassuming 
amiability of the man, he counts among his warmest 
personal friends the greatest number of those who have 
been arrayed against him in public life. Unpretending 
and ever ready to lend his services where required, to 
the very individuals against whom he might be supposed 
to have cause for cherished animosity, it is impossible 



78 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

for his worst enemies to withold from him the tribute of 
praise which is his due as a high-minded and courteous 
gentleman, even though on grounds of general policy 
they may be his adversaries. 



JAMES NOXON. 

Senator Noxon was born in March, 1818, in the town 
of Onondaga, Onondaga county, N. Y., and now repre- 
sents his own friends, who have known his life-long 
career — the most difficult of all the ordeals through 
which a public man can pass. His ancestors were from 
Scotland and from Holland. The name of his father, 
B. Davis Noxon, is indelible in the judicial annals of 
this State, it having been the synonym of a learned and 
faithful counsel for half a century. It has been his 
fortune to be prominent in the legal conflicts of the 
State, from the day when the place he had chosen as his 
residence was a frontier, till it had arisen to the wealth 
and importance of a great city. 

Senator Noxon received the foundation of his educa- 
tion at Homer, where he enjoyed the advantage of the 
scholarship of Mr. Wool worth, who now fills the respon- 
sible office of Secretary of the Regents of the University. 
At Hamilton and at Union Colleges he subsequently 
formed the strength and growth of a complete education. 
Having graduated, in 1838, he commenced the study of 
the law, and after receiving the primary instruction, in 
the city of Syracuse, in the office of Noxon, Leaven- 
worth & Comstock, he formed in the Law Department of 
Yale College and the instruction of those eminent civil- 
ians, Daggett and Hitchcock, that guide to the high 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 79 

reason of the law, which is the best teacher of its duties. 
Concluding his studies in 1841, he was admitted to the 
bar at the city of New York, and began his practice as 
the successor of his distinguished father, in the firm of 
Noxon, Leavenworth & Comstock. Of this firm, one 
member, Mr. Leavenworth, has filled the position of 
Secretary of State, and another, Mr. Comstock, is on 
the bench of the highest court in the State. 

Senator Noxon remained attached firmly, consistently, 
and of principle, to the Whig party, till the considera- 
tions which seemed paramount, led to the dissolution of 
that party and the formation of the Republican party. 
He has ever since worked faithfully and perseveringly 
in the Republican cause, his idea of freedom being in 
advance, it may be, of that of others, but only because 
he has refused to believe in any other than that of the 
universality of Liberty. 

He never held any office at the hands of the people 
until 1855, when the Republicans of the Twenty-second 
district presented him to the people as a candidate for 
the Senate, and when he was elected by a most flatter- 
ing vote. During the two years that followed, he was 
an active and influential member of that body, as 
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and was especi- 
ally prominent in the controversy which arose in regard 
to the construction of a bridge across the Hudson river, 
at Albany, and the disposition of the property of Trinity 
church. In the former case he was favorable to the 
construction of a bridge, and the bill authorizing its 
construction became a law ; in the latter he advocated 
the proposition to divide the property of Trinity among 
her branches, and carried it through the Senate. In 
1857 he was re-nominated for the Senate, and was again 
successful, lacking only a few votes of having a majority 



80 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

over the combined Democratic and American vote in the 
district. 

In person he is somewhat below the medium stature ; 
has light hair and beard ; large, blue eyes ; rather pale 
complexion, and a thoughtful countenance. He is 
sociable, frank, and open-hearted; and has multitudes 
of personal and political friends. He is a sound lawyer ; 
and a fluent, eloquent debater. He speaks rapidly, with 
appropriate gesticulation and animation, and has a clear, 
loud voice that occasionally makes the Senate chamber 
ring. He is a good, practical legislator, and will doubt- 
less not fail to do his duty to the interests of his imme- 
diate constituents and the commonwealth at large. 



JOHN E. PATTERSON. 

Senator Patterson is one of the oldest and most vene- 
rable looking men in the Senate. He is a native of the 
town of Lisle, Broome county, N, Y., where he was 
born, in March, 1800. His maternal ancestors were 
English, and his paternal, Scotch. His grandfather, 
Brig. -Gen. John Patterson, was a valiant soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, and took the command of West Point, 
after the capture of Andre, which he held till the close 
of the war. He was afterwards a Representative in 
the Eighth Congress, from what was then the Sixteenth 
district, in New York, and sat in the Constitutional 
convention of 1804, where he was an industrious and 
influential member. He was, also, subsequently a mem- 
ber of the State Senate for several years, and, at that 
time, was one of the most prominent men in the state. 
Mr. Patterson's father, Josiah L. Patterson, was a 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 81 

farmer, and a native of Connecticut, from whence he 
removed to Massachusetts. Here he lived until about, 
the year 1791, when he emigrated to New York, and 
settled in Broome county, where he remained until 1813, 
when he removed to Monroe county. He died about 
fourteen years ago, at the age of eighty-four, and his 
wife, the mother of the hero of this sketch, and a 
daughter of Gen. Hyde, of Broome county, formerly 
of Massachusetts, died about the year 1838, at the age 
of seventy. 

Senator Patterson was brought up on a farm, and 
received only an ordinary common school education. 
He remained at home with his father on the farm until 
he was twenty-seven years of age, when he was married 
to Miss Elizabeth Shelden, who died shortly after, and 
removed to Parma Centre, Monroe connty, where he 
has always since resided. On going to this place, he 
embarked in the mercantile trade, in which he engaged 
about three years, when he turned his attention to farm- 
ing, and has always since been, more or less, so occu- 
pied. In 1831, he was elected Justice of the Peace 
of the town in which he resides, and with the exception 
of a very few months, has held the office ever since. 
In 1834, he was elected Supervisor, and again in 1835, 
'36, '37, '51 and '53, holding the position during a 
period of six years. He was appointed one of the Judges 
of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1844, and occupied 
a place on the bench till the court was abolished by the 
Constitution of 1846. On his leaving this position, he 
was admitted to practice in the County Court, and in 
1851 was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court. 
Since then he has been a practicing lawyer. In 1855, 
he was brought forward by the Republicans, of what 
was then the Twenty-seventh district, as a candidate for 
6 



82 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the Senate, and was elected. He was renominated in the 
fall of 1857, in what is now the Twenty-eighth district, 
and was again successful by a handsome plurality. 
During the last session of the Legislature, he was Chair- 
man of the Standing Committees on Claims and Ex- 
piring Laws in the Senate. 

Senator Patterson was formerly a Free Soil Demo- 
crat, and supported Mr. Van Buren for the Presidency 
in 1848. He always voted a straight ticket, till 1854, 
when he split in favor of Myron H. Clark, as the Tem- 
perance candidate for Governor. Upon the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise, in the same year, he enlisted in 
the Republican movement, and has been a zealous mem- 
ber of that party ever since. He is an upright and re- 
spectable man, and a sound, honest legislator. In per- 
son he is tall, slender, and well proportioned ; has snow 
white hair ; blue eyes, and a dignified, intelligent 
countenance. He never married the second time, and 
chiefly attends the Presbyterian church. 



GEORGE W. PRATT. 

Senator Pratt is the youngest member of the Senate. 
He was born in 1830, in Prattsville, Greene county, N. 
Y., a pleasant little village reared among the Catskill 
mountains, by his energetic and respected father, the 
Hon. Zadock Pratt, late member of Congress. He is 
descended from that noble band of pilgrims who first 
broke ground on the shores of New England, one 
of whom, Lieut. William Pratt, of Norfolk in England, 
settled at Hartford, Conn., in 1636. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 83 

The subject of this sketch received a thorough and 
careful education, physically assisted by extended 
journeys on the western frontiers of the country, until 
1848, when he went to Europe and completed his edu- 
cation in a German university, receiving a degree of 
Doctor in Philosophy. Subsequently he traveled exten- 
sively in Egypt, the Holy Land, Turkey, and Russia, 
and finally returned to the United States in 1851. In 
1855 he was married to Miss Anna, daughter of Benja- 
min Tibbits, of Albany, and now resides at Kingston, 
Ulster county, in which county he is largely engaged 
in the manufacture of leather. He is, also, engaged in 
the same business in the city of New York. 

Senator Pratt devotes no inconsiderable portion of 
his time to literary studies ; is interested in the com- 
mon school system of New York, and is now a member 
of various distinguished literary societies in this and 
foreign countries. He is an enthusiastic book collector, 
and has a library of nearly eight thousand volumes, 
including some of the most ancient and valuable works and 
manuscripts to be found in the world. His collection 
in Oriental languages, or relating to Oriental subjects, 
which contains about three thousand volumes, is espe- 
cially interesting and attractive. The library contains a 
large number of ancient and modern Bibles ; numerous 
interesting ancient classical works ; some of the best 
editions of the Italian poets ; and many early Spanish 
works. 

The State Military organization has no warmer friend 
than Senator Pratt. He has served in various grades, 
and under the administration of Gov. Seymour, held 
the office of Quarter-Master General. At present, he 
is Colonel of one of the largest and most flourishing 
regiments in the State — the 20th Regiment, familiarly 



84 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

known as the Ulster G-uard — and it is in no small degree 
owing to his own exertions that the military spirit of his 
county has made for itself a name. Like his father, 
he is a Democrat, and has never faltered in his devo- 
tion to the principles of that party. He has never 
aimed to be a politician, evidently caring but little for 
such advancement, and his election to the Senate may 
be said to be his first entrance into the political field. 
He was nominated by the Democrats of the Tenth dis- 
trict with great unanimity for this position, and was 
triumphant by a majority of fifteen hundred, over the 
American and Republican candidate, notwithstanding 
the district gave about four thousand against the Dem- 
ocrats in the great contest of 1856. During the last 
session of the Legislature he was an influential member 
of the Committee on the Militia, and proved himself 
eminently capable and efficient in the discharge of all 
his official duties. He was, also, chairman of the Joint 
Library Committee, and as such, attended especially to 
all matters affecting the Library, the Regents of the 
University, the history of the State, and all that class of 
public business. It was under the direction of this 
Committe that the present arrangment of the Senate 
Chamber and its adjoining rooms has been made. 

Senator Pratt is both personally and political one of 
the most popular men in the Senate, notwithstanding 
his comparative youth. Although born and reared under 
the most advantageous circumstances, he has not, like 
the sons of most wealthy parents, failed to improve 
them, and is now possessed of the accomplishments, 
coupled with a naturally active mind and great strength 
of will, which cannot fail to advance him still higher in 
the scale of usefulness and distinction. He carries with 
him into the social circle the same unpretending and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 85 

retired manner, for which he is distinguished in puhlic, 
and athough of a cheerful disposition, exhibits a digni- 
fied and respectful hearing which, at once, constitutes 
the only safe index to real nobility of soul and the true 
value of an exalted character. 

In person Senator Pratt is above the medium height, 
being tall and slender ; has a fine coat of light brown 
hair, blue eyes, stylish side whiskers, and a fine, heavy 
moustache. He seldom addresses the Senate at any 
considerable length, but is active and faithful in the dis- 
charge of his duties as a legislator. 



EEASTUS S. PROSSER. 

There is much less of success in life really dependent 
upon accident, or what is usually denominated luck, than 
is generally imagined. Much more depends upon the 
objects which a man proposes to himself ; what accom- 
plishments or attainments he aims at ; what constitutes 
the circle of his vision and thoughts ; what he chooses, 
not to be educated for, but to educate himself for ; 
whether he looks beyond the present hour to the end 
and aim of the whole of life ; or whether he listens to 
the appeals of indolence or vulgar pleasure, or to the stir- 
ring voice in his own soul, urging his ambition on to 
the higher and nobler objects of life. 

Senator Prosser, the successor of the Hon. James 
Wadsworth, who resigned his place in the Senate in the 
fall of 1858, is forty-nine years of ag«, and was born in 
the town of Westerlo, Albany county, N. Y. He is a 
self-educated man, having enjoyed only the means of a 



86 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

very limited English education, and while comparatively 
young, removed to the city of Albany, where he em- 
barked in the forwarding trade. After remaining in that 
place for some time, he located in the city of Buffalo, 
where he now resides, and where he was extensively 
and successfully engaged in the forwarding business, till 
about a year ago, when he retired upon an ample for- 
tune. He possesses fine business capacities, combined 
with untiring industry and strict integrity, and is wholly 
indebted to his own unaided exertions and noble aims 
in life, for the eminent and gratifying success with 
which he has thus far met. 

In politics Senator Prosser was formerly a Democrat, 
till 1848, when his Anti-slavery proclivities led him 
into the support of Mr. Van Buren for the Presidency. 
He subsequently joined the Republican party, and 
although elected to his present position by a union of 
Americans and Republicans, still claims to belong to 
that party, having acted accordingly, since the opening 
of the present Legislature. He never held any public 
office till his election to the seat he now occupies, hav- 
ing paid but little attention to general politics in his 
close confinement to his duties, as a strict business man, 
and, outside of the business world, has been known in 
public only as a zealous and consistent friend of the 
Canals. His long experience in the forwarding trade 
has long since convinced him of the necessity and advan- 
tage of the speedy enlargement and completion of these 
great channels of commerce, and the deep interest which 
he has always taken in this great question, was probably 
the only inducement for him to consent to become a can- 
didate for the position he now occupies. He has, also, 
been industriously engaged in the enterprise of intro- 
ducing steam navigation on the Erie canal, and looks 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 87' 

upon it as one of the greatest improvements of the day 
in canal navigation. 

Senator Prosser has a family, and is personally, as 
well as politically, popular among all who know him. 
His whole life is a striking illustration of the fact, that a 
good name, founded on real worth of character, is far 
beyond any thing else in real value, and far better is 
it for a young man to begin the world penniless with 
this in his possession, than to be the proprietor of vast 
estates and the inheritor of paternal fame, with neither 
the disposition nor the ability to maintain them He 
cannot become wise, nor good, nor great by proxy, 
and the sooner he ascertains this and acts upon it, the 
better it will be for him, 

Senator Prosser is rather prepossessing in his per- 
sonal appearance, being about medium in height, with 
an active frame, sharp, grey eyes, and a bushy, iron-grey 
beard; and wears a cheerful good-natured, though dig- 
nified and somewhat reserved expression upon his coun- 
tenance which, at once, gives assurance of the real man. 



RICHARD SCHELL. 

Senator Schell is a native of Dutchess county, N. Y., 
and is forty-seven years of age. He is of German 
descent, and his ancestors were among the earliest 
Grerman settlers who came into Dutchess and Columbia 
counties. He is the eldest of four brothers, of whom 
Augustus Schell, the present Collector of the port of 
New York, is the second. He received a liberal educa- 
tion, and when comparatively young, removed to the 
city of New York, where he embarked in the business 



88 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of a broker, in which he is still engaged, on Wall street. 
He has, probably, been the most fearless and venture- 
some financial man in the country, and has alternately 
made and lost more money than any other man engaged 
in a similar business in the city of New York. 

Although firm, decided, and uncompromising in his 
political views, Senator Schell has never been a profes- 
sional politician, preferring to devote the largest share 
of his time and attention to his own private affairs, and 
has contented himself with being a silent-working and 
liberal member of his party. He was brought forward 
by the Democrats of his district with entire unanimity 
for the Senate, in the fall of 1857, and was elected to 
the seat he now occupies in that body, by a majority 
over the combined forces of the American and Repub- 
lican parties. The district from which he has been 
elected includes all that part of the city in which Fifth 
avenue is situated, and he represents more wealth than 
any other member of either branch of the Legislature. 

In the Senate, Mr. Schell discharges his duties with 
credit to himself, and the most perfect fidelity to his 
constituents. He never indulges in speech-making, be- 
lieving that the legislation of the State can be properly 
disposed of with a great deal less talking, but pursues a 
quiet, straight-forward, industrious, and consistent 
course, which commands the unqualified approbation of 
his legislative associates and the people. He is a man 
of sound judgment, with a strong, discriminating mind, 
and never, regardless of consequences to himself or 
friends, gives the least countenance to any thing, in the 
shape of legislation, which does not harmonize or tend 
to the promotion of the best interests of the people. 
He very appropriately occupied a position on the Com- 
mittee on Finance, during the last session of the Legis- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 89 

laturc, and was probably the best financier on that 
committee He has always been a Democrat and a 
devoted partisan, and is eminently national in all his 
political views and feelings, never refusing, as all men 
should do, to sacrifice, if need be, every local interest 
upon the altar of the Constitution and the Union. 

In person Senator Schell is about the medium height ; 
is well formed, and somewhat inclined to corpulency, 
with black hair and eyes, and a full, dignified face. He 
possesses fine, social qualities, and in both public and 
private life, enjoys a high degree of personal popularity. 



GEORGE G. SCOTT. 

Senator Scott was born in the town of Ballston, Sara- 
toga county, N. Y., in 1811. He is the only child of 
James Scott, long a noted land surveyor in that 
county, who was, also, a native of Ballston, and died 
there in 1857, at the advanced age of eigthy-three. 
The latter was the only son of Greorge Scott, a native of 
Dunnamanugh, Londonderry county, Ireland, who, in 
1773, came with his family to this country, and located in 
Ballston, then a frontier settlement in the wilderness. 
On one occasion, towards the close of the Revolution, 
his dwelling was attacked and pillaged at midnight by 
a band of Indians and Tories from Canada, and him- 
self tomahawked and left for dead by the enemy. 

Senator Scott was graduated at Union College in 
1831. He then commenced the study of the law at 
Ballston Spa, the county seat of Saratoga county, serv- 
ing the first half of his clerkship with Palmer & Good- 
rich, and the remaining half with Brown & Thompson. 



90 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

He was admitted as an attorney in the Supreme Court 
in 1834 and immediately opened an office in the same 
village, where he has practiced ever since, with much 
more than ordinary success. It is said that he has 
tried more causes as a referee than any other lawyer in 
Saratoga county, having always had the confidence of 
the people as a man of sound judgment and a thorough 
knowledge of his profession. In 1838 he was appointed, 
by G-ov. Marcy, one of the Judges of the County 
Courts, but resigned in 1840, when his term of office 
had about half expired, preferring to devote more of 
his time and attention to his private practice. He was 
also a Justice of the Peace from 1837 to 1849, and dis- 
charged the duties of the office with marked ability and 
entire satisfaction. In 1855 Senator Scott was nomin- 
ated to represent the First district of Saratoga county 
in the Assembly, and being the candidate of the two 
seperate organizations into which the Democratic party 
was then divided, was successful by a large plurality, 
over both the American and Republican candidates. 
He was a prominent member of the Standing Commit- 
tee on Ways and Means, during the session of 1856, 
and was the only Democratic member of the House 
placed upon that committee. In the political tornado 
of 1856 he was again elected to the Assembly by two 
votes over his Republican, and some two or three hundred, 
over his American competitor, running largely ahead 
of his ticket. At the ensuing session he was one of the 
most active and prominent members of the Standing 
Committee on the Judiciary. It was during this ses- 
sion that he made a speech on the negro suffrage ques- 
tion, which, at once, established his reputation as a 
sound thinker and a good debater, He took strong 
ground against the doctrine of universal suffrage, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 91 

while acknowleding that the negro had rights as well as 
the white man, maintained that the former onght not 
to be placed on an equal footing with the latter at the 
ballot-box. In the fall of 1857, the Democrats of the 
Fifteenth Senatorial district, brought him forward as 
a candidate for the seat he now occupies in the Senate, 
and he was triumphantly elected by a handsome major- 
ity. During the last session of the Legislature he was 
chairman of the Standing Committee on the Division 
of Towns and Counties, and occupied a prominent posi- 
tion on the Committee on Claims. 

Senator Scott was married in 1839, to Miss Lucy 
Lee, daughter of Joel Lee, a prominent citizen of 
Ballston, who had held several responsible positions 
at the hands of the people. He has four children — 
three promising daughters and an intelligent son. He 
is one of the most concise and logical debaters in the 
Senate, and is truly remarkable for his calmness, self- 
possession, and dignity, while addressing that body. 
He is most emphatically the right man in the right 
place, and will, no doubt, be received, at the close of 
his Senatorial career, by the universal plaudits of 
his constituents, " well done thou good and faithful 
servant." 



SAMUEL SLOAN. 

Senator Sloan was born on the 25th of December, 
1817, in the beautiful little town of Lisburn, within 
seven miles of Belfast, in the north of Ireland, and is 
now forty-one years of age. When about two years 
old, his parents .emigrated to this country, and settled 



92 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

in the city of New York. In 1798, however, some of 
his ancestors, owing to the political troubles of their 
native land, emigrated and settled in the State of Ken- 
tucky, where they and their numerous descendants have 
distinguished themselves for their devotion to republican 
institutions. 

At an early age Senator Sloan became a pupil in one 
of the public schools in New York. Subsequently he 
entered the grammar school of Columbia College, and 
pursued his studies until he was about fifteen years of 
age, when, owing to the sudden death of his father, 
leaving his widowed mother, with five orphan children, 
almost exclusively upon their own resources, he was 
compelled to abandon his career as a student, and turn 
his attention to some more practical mode of supporting 
himself and those in a great measure depending upon 
him. He entered the counting house of one of the 
most extensive English importing houses in New York, 
and soon after became a clerk in the old established 
house of McBride & Co., the founder of which, James 
McBride, recently deceased, was for near half a century 
engaged in the Irish and English trade, and everywhere 
known for his strict integrity of character. Senator 
Sloan remained in this house, as clerk, till 1845, when 
he became a partner, under the name of George McBride, 
Jr., & Co. On the 1st day of January, 1857, the firm 
was dissolved, and Senator Sloan having, in December, 
1855, been elected president of the Hudson Biver Bail- 
road Company, retired from business, and has since 
devoted his whole attention to the interests of the com- 
pany. He still holds this office, and as the chief execu- 
tive officer of the, company, has successfully carried it 
through one of the severest trials experienced in railroad 
management. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 93 

In the spring of 1844, Senator Sloan married Miss 
Margaret Elmendorf, of Somerset count j, N. J., a 
member of one of the oldest families in that section 
of the country, and removed to Brooklyn, where he has 
always since resided. In 1852, he was elected as a Super- 
visor of Kings county, and in 1853 was appointed one 
of the commissioners to form a charter for the consoli- 
dation of Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, and Bushwick. In 
these positions he discharged his duties with entire 
satisfaction to the people of the district he represented. 
In 1852, he was a candidate for nomination in the Demo- 
cratic Congressional convention of his district, but 
although the largest number of delegates were elected 
favorable to his nomination, he was by some unfair 
means defeated by two votes. 

He was never ambitious of political preferment, 
always preferring to devote his whole time and attention 
to his own private affairs, but in the fall of 1857, the 
Democrats of the Second Senatorial district successfully 
urged upon him the nomination for Senator. The dis- 
trict was then strongly Republican, and his competitor, 
Hon. Abijah Mann, Jr., enjoyed a high reputation as a 
legislator, but the contest resulted in the election of 
Mr. Sloan, by a large majority. As a member of the 
Standing Committees on Banks and Commerce, and 
Navigation, in the Senate, during the last session of the 
Legislature, he proved himself eminently serviceable, 
alike to his immediate constituents and the State at 
large, and successfully established his reputation as a 
faithful and efficient public servant. 

Senator Sloan has always been a Democrat of the 
National stamp. He is a prominent member of the 
Dutch Reformed church, and has always been actively 
connected with various benevolent and religious associ- 



94 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ations. In his general deportment lie is quiet and 
unassuming ; has an elevated mind, a high-toned moral 
feeling, strong natural sympathy, great firmness, deter- 
mination, dignity, independence, and self-reliance ; and 
is an honest, skillful, and correct business man, capable 
of driving large enterprizes, and bearing heavy respon- 
sibilities. As a citizen, he occupies a high position in 
the city where he resides, and perhaps one of the most 
interesting and sociable occasions that has transpired 
in Brooklyn for many years, was when its citizens con- 
gratulated him, with a complimentary dinner, in Decem- 
ber 1857, upon his election to the Senate. In reply to 
an invitation to be present on that occasion, the Hon. 
Erastus Corning, President of the New York Central 
railroad wrote as follows : "It would give me great pleas- 
ure to be present to bear witness in person to my high 
appreciation of Mr. Sloans' ability and character, espe- 
cially to the very able manner in which he has dischar- 
ged the responsible duties of President of the Hudson 
River railroad company. Although, when he accepted 
that post, he did so without any experience in railroad 
matters, by his energy and thoroughness, he soon made up 
for that want ; and by the success of his administration 
in every department to which he has attended, he has 
in my judgment, proved himself to be one of the ablest 
railroad managers in the country. The adminis- 
trative abilities thus developed, and the knowledge of 
the business and interests of our state thus obtained, 
will prove of great service to Mr. Sloan in the dischrage 
of his Senatorial duties." 

In person Senator Sloan is somewhat tall and slender ; 
has dark hair and eyes ; a flushed face, and an honest, 
thoughtful countenance. Having arisen by his own 
exertions to the distinguished position he now occupies, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 95 

his whole history is another striking illustration of the 
glorious influence of free republican institutions in 
assigning to merit and genius their proper place and 
reward. 



JOSHUA B. SMITH. 

Senator Smith was born in the town of Smithtown, 
county of Suffolk, N. Y., on the 9th of February, 1801, 
and has the appearance of being not more than forty 
years of age, having, as yet, scarcely a gray hair in his 
head. He is a lineal descendant of the sixth generation, 
and still resides on the old homestead, where his father 
and grandfather lived and died. He belongs to the 
" Bull Smith " stock, so called from the fact, that the 
great-grandsire of the name, upon emigrating to this 
country, from Yorkshire, England, purchased, for a 
certain stipend, as much land as he could ride around in 
a day, and having no horses, which were then scarce, he 
used a bull for the purpose, which he had trained to the 
bridle. 

Senator Smith owes nothing to a regular course of 
education, having had the advantages only of an ordi- 
nary district school, and is, in a very great degree, a 
self-made man. He is a tiller of the soil, and from his 
youth up, has always been a practical farmer. In 1827 
he was appointed an Adjutant of the 137th regiment of 
the New York State militia, under a commission of the 
late Gov. Marcy ; and in 1831 was appointed Colonel 
of the same regiment. He held his commission three 
years, and then resigned, receiving an honorable dis- 
charge. In 1827 he was elected a Justice of the Peace, 
of the town in which he lives, and is said to have dis- 



98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

charged the duties of the office in a highly satisfactory 
manner. In 1832 he was appointed one of the Judges 
of the court of Common Pleas, with the approval of the 
G-overnor of the State, which approval, was, in those 
days, indispensable, and held the position for two terms, 
embracing a period of ten years. His father had filled 
the same place before him for more than twenty-five 
years, and was so successful in his career, as a Judge, 
that he was permitted to occupy the position, notwith- 
standing frequent changes in the administration of the 
State. His father was, also, for many years, a distin- 
guished and influential member of the State Senate. 

In the fall of 1838 Senator Smith was chosen a mem- 
ber of Assembly, and was re-elected to the session of 
1843, during the administration of ex-G-ov. Bouck. 
In the fall of the same year, he was nominated and 
elected to the Senate, from what was then the Second 
Senatorial district, embracing a territory of nine coun- 
ties. The State was then divided into eight Senatorial 
districts, and each district was entitled to four Senators, 
who were elected for four years. In the fall of 1857 
the Democratic party again nominated him for the Sen- 
ate, with great unanimity, and he was elected from 
what is now known as the First district. He was chair- 
man of the Standing Committee on Agriculture during 
the last session, and was always found at his post, dis- 
charging his duties to the best of his ability. 

Senator Smith has always been an old National Dem- 
ocrat, as were also his father and grandfather before him. 
He has always been an active politician, feeling a deep 
interest in whatever pertains to the welfare of the coun- 
try ; but has never been what is usually termed a polit- 
ical demagogue or intriguer. Strong proof of this is the 
fact, that, while he has not unfrequently refused many 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 97 

prominent positions at the hands of the people, he has 
never sought to avoid any duty which he felt he owed 
them. He fills his position in the Senate with dignity 
and ability, and, although not a frequent talker, pos- 
sesses an influence which is seldom disregarded in the 
proceedings of that body. 

The Senator is a tall man, standing full six feet in his 
stockings ; is quick, active in step, having an elastic 
frame, capable of endurance ; and has black hair, a 
smooth face, and a penetrating, hazel eye. 



FRANCIS B. SPINOLA. 

Senator Spinola was born on the 19th of March, 
1821, at Stony Brook, Suffolk county, N. Y. His 
father, who came to this country at an early age, to 
complete his education, and who finally settled here, 
was a native of the island of Madeira, and his paternal 
grandfather was an Italian. Both his mother and mater- 
nal grandmother were natives of Long Island, and his 
maternal grandfather, who served through the Revolu- 
tionary war, as an officer, was an Irishman. 

In early life Senator Spinola received but very little 
schooling, and when nearly sixteen years of age, was 
apprenticed to the trade of a jeweler. He served his 
time at this business, until he was twenty-one years of 
age, when he abandoned it, on account of an unusual 
degree of inactivity in the trade. Being an extremely 
handy youth, he then turned his attention to black- 
smithing, which he followed nearly a year, when he 
engaged in the grocery business. After pursuing this 
occupation a short time, he engaged himself to work at 
7 



98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the carpenter's trade, which he followed nearly a year, 
when he was appointed an Assistant to the Clerk of the 
Common Council, of the city of Brooklyn, where he 
then, and has always since, resided. This post he occu- 
pied about a year, his engagement having been only for 
a specific amount of work, which he had completed 
within that period, and he then became a clerk in the 
office of the Hon. Cyrus P. Smith, with whom he 
remained a year. Shortly after, he was appointed 
Assistant Clerk of the Common Council, which position 
he filled until he was elected Alderman from the Second 
ward, in 1846. He was again the Whig candidate in 
the following year, and although the ward had always 
been one of the Democratic strongholds, he was defeated 
by only one vote. In the following spring, however, he 
was again elected, and was subsequently re-elected four 
different times. At the expiration of his term of office, 
as Alderman, he was elected three successive years .as 
Supervisor, and in the fall of 1855, was the successful 
Democratic candidate in his district, for the Assembly. 
In 1857, he was brought forward by the Democrats of 
the Third district, as a candidate for the Senate, and 
was triumphantly elected to that body, by a large majo- 
rity, over the combined Republican and American vote. 
Tn addition to all these positions, he also held the post 
of Harbor Master five years, which he received from 
Gov. Young, and has been an active member of the fire 
department for twenty years, filling consecutively all the 
different offices, save that of Chief Engineer. 

Senator Spinola commenced his political career as a 
zealous and consistent admirer of Henry Clay, and con- 
tinued to act with the Whig party, until it resolved 
itself out of existence, when his conservative views on 
the Slavery question, led him into the Democratic ranks, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 99 

where he has always since steadily remained. He was 
elected a member of the Whig General Committee, 
before he was twenty-one years of age, in the city of 
Brooklyn, and was then, as he is now, and as he always 
has been, one of the most active and influential party 
men in the district or ward where he resides. He is 
always on hand on election day, ready to devote one 
day, at least, to the service of his country, and never 
fails to contribute his full share of labor to the success 
of the candidates and measures of the party to which 
he belongs. He has, also, by his course in the Senate, 
as a member of the Standing Committees on Privileges 
and Elections, and on Internal Affairs of Towns and 
Counties, shown himself a faithful representative. 

Senator Spinola is married, and was reared in the 
Episcopal branch of the church. In person, he is some- 
what above the medium height ; has a muscular, elastie 
frame ; dark hair and complexion ; sharp, blue eyes ; 
smooth face, and a frank, good natured countenance. 
He is a fair speaker ; a practical, energetic man, and 
enjoys a more than ordinary degree of personal and 
political popularity. 



HORATIO J. STOW. 

On entering the Senate Chamber, the stranger's 
attention seldom fails to be first attracted by the per- 
sonal appearance of Senator Stow. He is, physically, 
the largest man in the Senate, being tall, very fleshy 
and corpulent, and weighing about two hundred and 
twenty-five pounds. He has a full, round, massive face ; 
a large, well-formed head, thinly coated with light, gray 



100 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

hair ; light blue eyes, and a glowing countenance, which 
indicates a good liver — a highly seasoned relish for the 
best of oysters, fresh canvas back ducks, good, genuine 
heidsick, and all the other delicacies of this life. 

Senator Stow is doubtless, in his own way, the most 
remarkable man in the Senate. It is possible, that, as 
he once said of Glen. Harrison, he was born at a very 
early period of his life, though the author having failed 
to obtain any authentic information as to his birth, it is 
not improbable, that, like another distinguished indivi- 
dual of whom we read in Uncle Tom's Cabin, he was 
never born at all. It appears, however, that he is a 
native of Lowville. Lewis county, N. Y., and is about 
fifty years of age. He is descended from good, old, 
substantial English stock, and his father, Silas Stow, 
was a man of eminent distinction during his life time. 
He emigrated from Middletown, Conn., to New York, 
as early as 1797, and settled in Lewis county, which 
was then a part of Oneida. He was subsequently a 
Representative in the Twelfth Congress, from what was 
then the Tenth district, and for quite a series of years 
presided on the bench of Lewis county as Chief Judge. 

Senator Stow was educated* at the Lowville academy, 
an institution of considerable reputation, and after 
leaving school, went into Jefferson county, and com- 
menced the study of the law in the office of the Hon. 
Thomas C. Chittenden, a prominent lawyer in that sec- 
tion of the State, with whom he remained until admitted 
to the bar. Some time after, he removed to Erie county, 
and settled in Buffalo, where he at once established 
himself in the pursuit of his profession, speedily acquir- 
ing a reputation as a man of good mind, and a sound, 
reliable judgment. Having practiced law a few years, 
he was elected Recorder of the city of Buffalo, which 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 101 

office he occupied several years, and was sent from Erie 
county to the Constitutional convention of 1846. He 
took an active and somewhat influential part in the 
deliberations of that body, but at the close of the Con- 
vention declined to subscribe to the new constitution, 
and went back to his constituents, repudiating every 
feature of the work that had just been accomplished. 
This was the last position he ever held at the hands of 
the people of Erie county, and a few years ago he aban- 
doned the law, and removed to Lewiston, Niagara 
county, where he is now engaged, on a pretty extensive 
scale, in farming. 

In politics Senator Stow belongs to no distinct organ- 
ization, claiming to be entirely " Independent," and 
although strictly honest, is a striking illustration of the 
truth of the definition of Jefferson, who says, that "an 
independent man is one upon whom no one can depend." 
He, at one time, formerly acted with the Whig party, 
professing great friendship, for and admiration of, the 
lamented Clay, and in 1848 supported Mr. Van Buren for 
the Presidency, on the celebrated Buffalo platform. He 
was strongly opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, as he now is to the further extension of slavery, 
and in 1856 warmly advocated the election of Col. Fre. 
mont to the Presidency. In 1857 he was brought for- 
ward by the anti-railroad interest of the Twenty-ninth 
district for Senator, in opposition to the Hon. Alonzo 
S. Upham, the Republican candidate, who was the spe- 
cial friend of the railroad power, and was elected by a 
complimentary plurality. Thus far he has acted with 
all parties in the Senate, and as chairman of the Stand- 
ing Committee on Canals, during the last session, has 
lost no time in declaring war against what he regards as 
the iniquitous railroad power of the State — a subject 



102 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

which is seemingly claiming his entire time and atten- 
tion. He appears to sympathize more with the Repub- 
licans than either of the other parties in the Senate, and is 
sometimes denominated an "Independent Republican; " 
but it is difficult to correctly classify him, for he is 

" A creature of amphibious nature, 
On land a beast, a fish in water ; 
That always prays on grace or sin, 
A sheep without, a wolf within." 

Senator Stow is vain, eccentric, and volcanic, being 
often guided more by impulse than intellect, and appa- 
rently looks upon all men as his inferiors. His manner 
is singular and difficult to comprehend, one moment 
being social and communicative, at another entirely 
reserved and exceedingly repulsive ; and he is as likely 
to meet you with a cool, distant turn of the head as a 
hearty, welcome smile. In social life, as in politics, he 
is a huge comet, sweeping recklessly through space, and 
neither his course nor his appearance can be calculated 
with the least precision. He has a strong mind, and 
expresses himself with ease and eloquence, but is too 
impulsive for a successful leader. He goes in extensively 
for principles,* and neglects details. He is what men 
call impracticable. He plants himself at the base of a 
mountain of public Wrong, and insists on cutting right 
through it — a political Hannibal, making his way through 
the Alps — a work for many a life-time, if not utterly 
impracticable, while there is a sure road, around the 
mountain, easily trodden by a leader and his host, by 
which he could lead them into the pleasant valleys of 
Reform. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 103 



LYMAN TRUMAN. 

Senator Truman is a remarkable man, having arisen, 
under unusually adverse circumstances, from quite an 
humble condition in life to his present distinguished, 
public and private, position in the State. After receiv- 
ing a few months' common schooling, he was left alone, 
at the age of sixteen, with a widowed mother, four 
brothers, and three sisters, younger than himself, with- 
out any means scarcely of a support. His father, who 
was a farmer, it is true, left them in the possession of 
the place upon which they were living ; but it was so 
far encumbered as almost to preclude the possibility of 
their retaining it. Nothing daunted, however, Lyman 
went to work like a good fellow, and succeeded in sup- 
porting the family, sending the children, at the same 
time, to school, and in retaining the farm, until all 
claims against it were fully paid, to the very last far- 
thing. In accomplishing this he employed himself in 
various ways, until he was twenty-four years of age, 
when he became a clerk in a store in an adjoining town. 
Here he remained three years in this capacity, when he 
embarked with a partner in the mercantile trade for 
himself, and continued thus engaged about three years. 
He then purchased his partner's interest in the establish- 
ment, and shortly after took his three younger brothers 
in with him as partners. About this time he purchased a 
farm, and presented it to the oldest of his brothers who 
had always followed the plow. He was succeeded in 
the mercantile trade about a year since by his brother- 
in-law, and has since then been engaged with his 
younger brothers, in various successful enterprises. 
During the last thirty-five years he has, likewise, been a 



104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

practical raftsman, and has never failed to make his 
annual trip down the Susquehanna in this capacity. 
He is a man of sterling integrity and untiring energy ; 
upright and honorable in all his dealings ; and occu- 
pies a prominent position among the business men in 
the section of the State where he resides. A few years 
since he was elected President of the Bank of Owego, 
an institution which had then descended to almost uni- 
versal discredit ; but he succeeded in placing it upon a 
sure footing, and in successfully carrying it through all 
the financial troubles of the great panic of 1857. 
Indeed, there are probably few better business men in 
the State than Lyman Truman. 

Senator Truman is a native of Candor, Tioga county, 
N. Y., and is of English and Scotch descent. He was 
born on the 2d of March, 1806, and is therefore now 
fifty-three years of age. Both his paternal and mater- 
nal grandfathers took part in the Revolutionary strug- 
gle, and the latter was especially prominent in the 
troubles at Stonington, Conn., where the General gov- 
ernment contracted a debt with him which was paid 
only a few years since. Lyman's father, Aaron Truman, 
emigrated from Massachusetts to New York, in 1804, 
and settled in Tioga county, where he died, in 1838, at 
the age of thirty-eight. His wife, the mother of the 
subject of this sketch, was a native of Connecticut, and 
died, in 1844, at the age of sixty. 

Senator Truman held various unimportant town 
offices previous to 1840, when he was elected Supervi- 
sor. He was again elected twice to the same position, 
and in 1847 ran as a stump candidate for the Assembly 
in what was then a strong Democratic district, lacking 
only a few votes of an election. He declined all further 
nominations from that time until 1857, when the Repub- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 105 

licans of the Twenty .fourth district brought him forward 
as a candidate for, and elected him to, the seat he now 
fills in the Senate. In early life he was an advocate of 
Democratic measures and cast his first vote for Gen, 
Jackson. He became a Whig after 1833, and voted 
with that party until 1848, when his Free Soil proclivi- 
ties led him into the ranks of the supporters of Mr. Van 
Buren, for whom he then voted for President. From this 
time he took no further part in politics, being too much 
engrossed with his own private affairs, until the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise. He immediately then became 
a zealous advocate of the Republican movement, and has 
ever since been a warm supporter of the doctrines of that 
party, taking the stump on all proper occasions in their 
behalf. He is, also, a strong advocate of the system of 
free schools, and never fails to exert all his power and 
influence in support of the great cause of Temperance. 

Senator Truman was married on the 10th of January, 
1838, to Miss Emile M. Goodrich, by whom he has 
three children, and his family attend the Congregational 
church. In person, he is a man about the medium 
height ; is muscular and well formed ; has blue eyes ; a 
dark complexion, and a profusion of dark brown hair, 
with a pleasant, business-like face, whose features are 
very strongly marked. He is mild, courteous, and un- 
ostentatious in his manner ; is plainly and well dressed ; 
and never seems to be disengaged. He is a fair speaker, 
and a good reasoner, but never troubles the Senate with 
speech-making, regarding good, sound, safe legislation 
as more the result of correct thinking and thorough 
work than long-winded speeches. During the last ses- 
sion of the Legislature he discharged his duties faith- 
fully and intelligently, as chairman of the Senate Standing 
Committees on Public Expenditures and Claims. 



106 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



OSMER B. WHEELER. 

Senator Wheeler is the son of Jesse "Wheeler, a 
professional lawyer and successful agriculturist, in Con- 
necticut, and was born in 1810, in the town of Weston, 
Fairfield county, in that State. At the age of fourteen 
he was apprenticed to the tanning and currying trade, 
in the city of Bridgeport, a few miles from his native 
place, and served an apprenticeship until he was twenty 
years of age. Shortly after, he immigrated to Greene 
county, N. Y., where he became foreman of the exten- 
sive establishment of Col. Zadock Pratt, with whom he 
remained, in this capacity, about eight years, at the end 
of which time he removed to Sullivan county, where he 
engaged in the tanning business, on his own responsi- 
bility. He is now a very large land holder, and is pro- 
prietor of the most extensive oak tannery in the United 
States. His establishment is known as the "Oakland 
Tannery," and is surrounded by a village, with a popu- 
lation of about three hundred, which he has built within 
a few years, and which is known by the name of Oak- 
land. He has taken great pains in laying out the 
village, and has succeeded in making it one of the most 
pleasant little places in the State. 

Senator Wheeler has received a thorough business 
education, and is emphatically a self-made man. He is 
descended from " the people," his ancestors having 
neither rank nor fortune, and he never forgets the class 
from which he sprung. When he removed to Greene 
county from his native State, his entire capital consisted 
of two dollars and a half in cash ; but he is now com- 
fortably situated in life, having, by his industry, perse- 
verance and frugality, acquired an independent fortune. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 107 

His reputation as an active, correct business man, is 
unequaled in Sullivan county, and to this trait in his 
character may, no doubt, be safely attributed the 
largest share of his success in life. Indeed, wherever 
he is known, he is regarded as a useful, practical, ener- 
getic, and common sense man, and his whole life affords 
an additional illustration of the truth, that it is impos- 
sible "to get something for nothing" and that the 
Divine declaration, "thou shalt eat thy bread by the 
sweat of thy brow," has lost none of its original force. 
Senator Wheeler made his first entrance into public 
life, in 1852, when he was elected Supervisor of the 
town in which he now resides. He was subsequently 
elected three times to the same position, and held 
several other responsible public trusts, until the fall of 
1857, when the Americans of the Ninth district, nomi- 
nated him for the seat he now fills in the Senate. His 
nomination was afterwards endorsed by the Republicans, 
who were favorable to him on personal grounds, and who 
had nearly despaired of succeeding with a candidate of 
their own peculiar faith, and he was elected by a ma- 
jority of upwards of sixteen hundred, notwithstanding 
the fact, that many dissatisfied Republicans either voted 
for the Democratic candidate, or did not attend the polls 
at all. He, however, went into the contest as a genuine 
National American, and may consequently be said to 
have triumphed almost entirely, through the influence and 
strength of his own party. During the session of the 
Legislature which followed, he was indefatigable in the 
faithful discharge of his functions, as chairman of the 
Standing Committee on Public Buildings and a prominent 
and influential member of the Committees on Roads and 
Bridges, and Manufactures, and was equally as prompt 
and industrious in the fulfillment of his duties on the 



108 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

floor of the Senate. Although strongly averse to unne- 
cessarily intruding questions of a National character 
upon State legislation, to the exclusion of matters in 
which the people are more directly interested, yet his 
speech, on the subject of Popular Sovereignty, delivered 
in the Senate, on the 8th of March, 1858, which was 
extorted from him by the indirect attacks of some of his 
political opponents upon the party of which he is a 
member, was one of the most masterly efforts of the 
session, and, at once, placed him in the front rank of 
representative men. It was then that he was the first 
to raise his voice in the Capitol of the Empire State in 
behalf of that great doctrine of popular rights, as con- 
tradistinguished from that supposed power which he so 
aptly christened " Congressional Sovereignty," and the 
universal favor with which the sentiments, expressed by 
him on that occasion, have since been received, by the 
great mass of the people of this and every other State in 
the Union, will forever attest their soundness, imparti- 
ality, wisdom, and disinterested patriotism. He took 
strong grounds against both Executive and Congres- 
sional interference in the internal affairs of the people, 
either in their territorial or state capacity, and success- 
fully maintained that the people should always have the 
exclusive and undisturbed right to regulate all their 
domestic affairs in their own way, subject only to the 
Constitution of the United States. 

Senator Wheeler was rocked in a Henry Clay Whig 
cradle ; was reared as a Whig, and was always an active 
and devoted advocate of the principles of that party, 
while it had an organization. But when the American 
party suddenly sprung into existence, upon the exigen- 
cies of the times, he immediately took a decided stand 
in behalf of its principles ; and was among the first to 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 109 

take part in its organization, in Sullivan county. He 
has never been an aspirant for political distinction, 
although, by no means, an indifferent observer of what- 
ever pertains to the welfare and interest of the country, 
and has not unfrequently refused prominent public posi- 
tions, at the hands of the people. 

At the age of twenty-three, Senator Wheeler was 
married to Miss Rebecca, daughter of John D. Jones, 
an eminent physician, then residing at Windham, Greene 
county, N. Y., by whom he has six children — three sons 
and three daughters. He is a warm hearted and affec- 
tionate man ; a faithful friend and a generous enemy ; 
and possesses, in an eminent degree, the elements of 
personal popularity. He is not impulsive ; and when 
once settled in his opinions and convictions, is decidedly 
frank and fearless in their expression. He is easily 
approached, and combines courtesy and affability with 
dignity and firmness, His frank and open countenance 
is peculiarly inviting, and he is rarely addressed by a 
stranger without adding one more to his already exten- 
sive circle of personal and political friends. His efforts 
as a speaker are more remarkable for practical common 
sense than for brilliancy of oratory, or the flowers of 
rhetoric ; his mind, strictly practical in all its scope 
and bearings, is eminently utilitarian. Energy of 
character, firmness of purpose, and an unswerving 
integrity are his chief characteristics. In person, he is 
of medium height ; has full, dark eyes, and dark hair ; 
a smooth, frank face ; and exhibits unmistakable signs 
of permanent, good health. He very seldom addresses 
the Senate, but when he does, he advances immediately 
to the real point in controversy, which he never fails to 
discuss with clearness and sound logic. 



110 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



WILLIAM A. WHEELER. 

Senator Wheeler is a native of M alone, Franklin 
county, N. Y., where he has always resided, and is just 
verging upon the meridian of manhood, being only 
thirty-eight years of age. His paternal ancestors were 
Welch, and maternal, English. He is emphatically a 
self-taught, self-made man, having arisen from an hum- 
ble condition in life, to his present distinguished posi- 
tion before the people of the Empire State. His father 
died when he was quite young, leaving him to take care 
of himself, which he did, for a brief period, when the 
Hon. Asa Hascall, a prominent lawyer in Malone, dis- 
covering something more than ordinarily promising in 
the boy, took him under his special guardianship. He 
immediately went into the office of Mr. Hascall, where 
he became a dilligent and faithful student, making him- 
self, at the same time, as serviceable as possible to his 
guardian and preceptor, until he was about twenty 
years of age, when he took charge of the entire office 
and its business himself, Mr. Hascall having been 
rendered incapable to attend to business, by an apoplec- 
tic stroke, which prostrated him about that time. He 
then followed his profession as a lawyer about eight 
years, when he was tendered and accepted a position in 
the Bank of Malone, as Cashier, which he has always 
since held. Shortly after, he was, also, appointed clerk 
of the Board of Directors, of the Northern railroad, 
running from Ogdensburgh, through the city of Malone, 
to Rouse's Point ; a road with which he has always since 
been connected, and of which he became President, in 
February, 1857. He has always been a practical, 
thorough-going business man ; never an active politician. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Ill 

Senator Wheeler never occupied any political posi- 
tion until 1849, when the Whigs of Franklin county 
nominated and elected him to the Assembly. He was 
again the successful Whig candidate, as a member of 
that body, in the fall of 1850, and during both sessions, 
established his reputation as an accurate and industri- 
ous representative. Having completed his second leg- 
islative term, as a member of the House, he declined 
all further political distinction, until the fall of 1857, 
when, at the urgent solicitation of many personal and 
political friends, he became the Republican candidate 
for Senator, in the Seventeenth district, and was victo- 
rious, as the incumbent of the position he now occupies 
in that body. He was chairman of the Standing Com- 
mittees on Banks, and Privileges and Elections, during 
the last session, and was always found faithful to the 
responsible trust with which his constituents have clothed 
him. He stands well in the Senate, and has recently been 
elected President pro tern, of that body. He was formerly 
closely attached to the Whig party, but never participated 
in politics, his business engrossing his entire time and 
attention, until the Republican movement was organized, 
since which, he has become somewhat active, though, 
even yet, an attentive and industrious business man. 

About ten years ago, Senator Wheeler was married 
to a daughter of Judge King, of Franklin county. He 
has no children. He is a man about five feet ten inchet 
in height ; is somewhat singularly proportioned ; has 
light hair, and light, blue eyes ; a wide, expressive 
mouth ; a good forehead ; large, perceptive faculties, 
and a pale, nervous complexion. He is a loud, earnest 
speaker, combining general coolness, with occasional 
excitability, and generally participates in most of the 
discussions of the Senate. 



112 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JOSEPH A. WILLARD. 

Senator Willard was born on the 26th of April, 
1803, in the town of Hubbardton, Rutland county, Vt. 
He is of English descent. His father, Francis "Wil- 
lard emigrated to Vermont from Massachusetts, when 
about sixteen years of age, and was a house joiner and 
carpenter. He died, in March 1856, at the age of 
seventy-eight, and Joseph's mother died at the age of 
seventy-three. They were both well known throughout 
the section of country where they lived, for their honest 
industry and persevering self-reliance, and died respected 
and beloved by all who knew them. 

Senator Willard received a common school education 
in his native place. At the age of fifteen, he was 
apprenticed to the clothier business, in the town of Cas- 
tleton, where he remained until he was twenty-one 
years of age. He then removed to New York, and 
settled in Lowville, Lewis county, where he has always 
since resided, and where he is now engaged in the 
clothier and manufacturing business. Subsequent to 
the year 1825, he participated somewhat in military 
affairs, and arose in rank to Quarter-Master, Major, 
Colonel, and Brigadier-General, of the 26th Brigade, 
and 12th Division. Meanwhile he occupied several 
responsible offices in the town where he resides, and in 
1856 was elected Supervisor. He was again elected 
in the spring of 1857, and in the fall of the same year 
was the successful candidate, from the Eighteenth dis- 
trict, for the place he now occupies in the Senate. He 
was elected by a complimentary majority over his com- 
petitor, who received the combined Democratic and 
American vote of the district, He was an influential 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 113 

member of the Standing Committees on Internal Affairs 
of Towns and Counties, Medical Societies, and Poor 
Laws, in the Senate, during the last session of the 
Legislature, and always displayed ability and sound 
judgment in the proper discharge of every duty with 
which he was entrusted, He is one of the oldest men 
in that body, and although not a frequent debater, has, 
also, thus far fulfilled his duties, on the floor of the 
Senate, satisfactorily to his immediate constituents, and 
the people, generally, throughout the State. He is a 
man of great decision of character — positive and fearless 
in the expression of his views, and never takes for 
granted what is succeptible of demonstration. 

Senator Willard was formerly a Whig, of strong Free 
Soil proclivities, and was always found acting with that 
party, until it abandoned its organization, when he 
entered into the Republican movement. In 1854 he 
was a delegate to the Anti-Nebraska State convention, 
at Saratoga, and was one of the Vice-Presidents, at 
Syracuse, in the fall of 1856, when Gov. King was nom- 
inated for the distinguished post which he has just 
vacated. Previous to the repeal of the Missouri com- 
promise, he took but little part in the politics of the day ; 
but his abhorrence of the Kansas-Nebraska bill was so 
great, that since its passage he has been an industrious, 
energetic, and influential member of the Republican 
organization. 

On the 22d of October, 1829, he was married to 
Miss Eusebia Eager, of Lowvillc, by whom he has four 
children living, and is a member of the Presbyterian 
branch of the church. He is a man of medium height ; 
has a large, square, robust and vigorous frame ; a thick, 
heavy head of snow white hair ; hazel eyes, and a 
round, full, glowing face, which indicates good health 
8 



114 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and happy contentment- No member, probably, in the 
entire circle, looks the Senator more than does Senator 
Willard. 



JOHN D. WILLARD. 

Senator Willard is a native of Lancaster, N. H., and 
is the son of a clergyman. He is a descendant of 
Major Simon Willard, who emigrated to this country 
from the county of Kent, England, in 1634 ; who was 
afterwards a member of the Council of the colony of 
Massachusetts, and who is celebrated in the history of 
the early Indian wars. At a later period another of his 
ancestors was President of Harvard University. 

Senator Willard was educated at Dartmouth College, 
where he graduated at the early age of nineteen. He 
held a very high rank in college as a scholar, and when 
he graduated, was selected to deliver the oration before 
one of the two rival literary societies. He was after- 
wards, for one year, a tutor in that institution. Just 
as he was about to commence the study of his profes- 
sion, his health failed, and his physicians advised a 
change of climate, as offering the only prospect of 
saving his life. He, therefore, sailed for Savannah, 
and spent a winter in that city and its neighborhood, 
deriving from it something of the hoped-for benefit. 
But it was long before his health was restored, and this 
misfortune made a blank of two years in his life. Sub- 
sequently he commenced the study of the law in Che- 
nango county, N. Y., completed it in Troy, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1826. He immediately opened 
an office in that city, where he had already made many 
warm friends. The next year he was nominated by De 
Witt Clinton for Surrogate of the county of Rensselaer. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 115* 

At that time the " Bucktail " party had a majority in 
the Senate, and his confirmation was opposed on politi- 
cal grounds only, and was defeated. In 1834, he was 
appointed Judge of the County Courts of Rensselaer 
county, on the nomination of Wm. L. Marcy. This 
office he held six years. In the mean time his business 
as a lawyer had been constantly increasing, and was 
very extensive. He then determined to devote himself 
entirely to his profession, and after this time steadily 
refused all nominations for election to public office. He 
still, however, remained a member of the Democratic 
Central committee, and continued to exert a large 
influence on the politics of the county. He commenced 
practice without a partner, but as his business increased, 
he found it necessary to divide the labor ; and the firm 
then became Willard & Raymond, and afterwards Wil- 
lard, Raymond & Woodbury. In 1850, accompanied 
by his wife, he carried out a plan he had long cherished, 
of visiting Europe. He spent two months in Great 
Britain, and two months in Paris; in the autumn he 
visited Belgium, Western Germany, and Switzerland; 
and passed the winter in Italy, dividing his time chiefly 
between Florence, Rome, and Naples. In the following 
spring and summer, he extended his tour through Aus- 
tria, Hungary, Prussia, and Poland, going as far east as 
Warsaw. He afterwards visited Holland, and returned 
to America, after an absence of more than a year. In 
1855, he again embarked for Europe, partly for the 
benefit of his health, and partly to accompany a son. 
He was absent from the country, on this visit, about 
fifteen months. Of late he has retired from the practice 
of the law. 

In the fall of 1857, Judge Willard yielded to the 
earnest request of his Democratic friends, and accepted 



116 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the nomination of that party for Senator from the 
Twelfth district, and was elected, although the district 
gave, at the previous election, a majority for Fremont 
over Buchanan, of nearly five thousand. This result 
was owing partly to his great personal popularity, and 
the high position he occupied, both in his own party and 
the whole community. During the canvass, the news- 
papers in the district, politically opposed to his election, 
referred to him in terms of high personal respect. The 
Troy Times, the Republican organ, speaking of the 
Democratic Senatorial convention, said: "Hon. John 
D. Willard, of this city, was nominated for Senator by 
acclamation. He is an excellent citizen, a man of 
talents and good legal acquirements, and is certainly 
well qualified to discharge the duties of the office for 
which he has been nominated. The district, however, 
is against the Judge and his party, Washington and 
Rensselaer counties having last year given near 5,000 
Republican majority over the Democracy. He will be 
rejected, however, solely on political grounds, his per- 
sonal worthiness being such as all good citizens would 
approve of." The Troy Daily Whig, an American 
organ, speaking, after the election, of the result, also 
adds: "But since the choice of the people has fallen to 
a political opponent, it is a pleasure to know that he is 
a gentleman of capacity, unexceptionable in every rela- 
tion of private life, and will fill the responsible station 
with credit to himself and his constituency." 

Since he took his seat in the Senate we have noticed 
an incident which shows how little he desires public 
office and honors. At the charter election, in Troy in 
March, 1858, he was earnestly urged by his political 
friends to accept the office of Mayor. The Troy Budget 
of March 6th, referring to the convention, says : " There 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 117 

was a general desire for the nomination of Judge Willard 
for the Mayoralty, and he would have been the unanimous 
choice of the delegates, if his acceptance could have been 
obtained, which he declined in positive terms to give." 
In consequence of his declining the Hon. Araba Read 
received the Democratic nomination, and was elected by 
about five hundred majority. 

Judge Willard, though not a church member, attends 
the services of the Presbyterian church, and for several 
years has been chairman of the board of trustees of the 
Second Presbyterian congregation in Troy — the Rev. 
Dr. Smalley's. He is a Director in the Commercial 
Bank of Troy, and is a member of various literary and 
scientific societies. In 1839 he married Miss Laura 
Barnes, and has two sons. He has a taste for literary 
pursuits, and has found time, amid the engrossing cares 
of a laborious profession, to give much attention to 
general literature. In public, as in private life, he is a 
straight-forward, upright, decided and reliable man ; 
courteous in his manners ; a sound, successful lawyer, 
always occupying the front rank in his profession ; an 
able legislator ; and during the last session of the Legis- 
lature, proved himself, both on the floor of the Senate, 
and as a prominent member of the Standing Committee 
on the Judiciary, a representative of whom the people 
of the Twelfth Senatorial district may well feel proud. 



118 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ALEXANDER B. WILLIAMS. 

Senator Williams was born on the 29th of October, 
1815, in Alexandria, D. C, Va. His father, John 
Williams, was of German extraction, but was native 
born, as were also his mother's family. He is the sec- 
ond of six sons, three of whom, besides himself, are 
still living. His father emigrated to New York in the 
year 1825, and settled in the town of Sodus, Wayne 
county, on the southern borders of Lake Ontario. He 
was a successful, practical mechanic, and assisted in 
the construction of the first packet boat ever run on 
the Erie canal. He died at that place, 1843, in a fit 
of apoplexy, at the advanced age of sixty-seven. His 
wife, the mother of the hero of this sketch, is still liv- 
ing, and has attained the age of sixty-nine. 

Senator Williams had not the advantages of a classi- 
cal education, having received all the schooling he has, 
before his parents removed to New York, when he was 
oply ten years of age. About this time his father 
placed him in a dry goods store in Sodus, as a clerk, 
and his employer having no children of his own, adopted 
him. Here he remained until he was about eighteen 
years old, when falling out one day with his employer, 
he concluded to leave him, and accordingly did so, by 
hiring himself out to another man, engaged in the same 
business, at nine dollars per month. He continued in 
this new position till 1835, when having become one of 
the most popular, efficient, and industrious clerks in 
that section of the country, his employer took him into 
his establishment as a partner, without any share in the 
capital, save his qualifications as a merchant. This 
partnership continued until 1837, when the firm sold 
out, and he engaged in the same business, with what 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 119 

little capital he had by that time acquired, on his own 
responsibility. He then continued in the mercantile 
trade till 1841, when he again sold out. In the sum- 
mer of the same year he was appointed, under Presi- 
dent Harrison, to the post of Deputy Collector and 
Inspector at Big Sodus Bay, which he held until just 
previous to the advent of the Administration of Mr. 
Polk, when he resigned. Then again he embarked in 
tie mercantile business, in which he continued till the 
fall of 1845, when he finally sold out for the last time. 
In this same year he was elected county clerk, and was 
subsequently elected to the same place, holding the 
office, in all, about six years. At the expiration of his 
clerkship he found his health greatly impaired by his 
too close application to the duties of his office, and has 
ever since been devoting most of his time to traveling 
in the Western States, where he has dealt pretty exten- 
sively in the buying and selling of land. 

Senator Williams has had considerable experience as 
a military man, having arisen from a Lieutenancy in a 
private company, to the position of Lieutenant Colonel 
in the 242d Regiment, and has proved himself eminently 
qualified for every position to which he has been called. 
In 1841 he was elected a Justice of the Peace in the 
town in which he resided by a handsome majority, 
although the town was strongly Democratic and he was 
the Whig candidate. In 1845 he was again elected to 
the same office, and was also at the same time elected 
Supervisor, by large majorities in both instances. In 
1855 he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for 
State Treasurer, and in 1857, was nominated for the 
position which he now holds in the Senate, with great 
unanimity, by the Republicans of his district, and was 
elected by a majority of over three thousand, against a 



120 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

combination of Democrats and Americans. As chair- 
man of the Standing Committee on Roads and Bridges, 
and a member of the committees on State Prisons and 
Public Printing, in the Senate, during the last session, 
he discharged his duties faithfully, although confined to 
his room during most of the time by ill health. He 
has not unfrequently been tendered the nomination of his 
party for Congress, but has always peremptorily declined. 

In 1832, Senator Williams was married to Miss Sarah 
M., daughter of John McCarty, a successful farmer, 
who died in Wayne county in 1831. She is a modest, 
unassuming, sociable woman, and every way calculated 
for a good wife, a kind mother, and a generous and hos- 
pitable friend and neighbor. 

Senator Williams early espoused the Anti-Masonic 
cause, and was secretary of an Anti-Masonic meeting 
at the age of twelve years. He was a member of the 
first Whig organization in Wayne county, in 1834, and 
continued to act with the Whig party, until it lost its 
organization, in 1854, when he embarked in the Repub- 
lican cause. He was a delegate to the first Anti- 
Nebraska State Convention at Saratoga, in 1854, and 
was at Auburn when the Republican party was chris- 
tened at that place. He has always been an active, 
decided party man, and is perfectly booked up in the 
politics of the State and the Union. Owing to impaired 
health, he has, as yet, been able to spend but very little 
time in his seat in the Senate, though he has not by 
any means been negligent of the interests of his imme- 
diate constituents, or the State. He is a man of strong 
intellectual powers; is a clear and concise reasoner; 
and in legislation, as in everything else, combines theory 
with practicability, adopting the former only so far as it 
conforms to the latter. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 

Number of their respective Districts, and the Counties 
arid Wards composing the same. 

Lieut.-Governor Robert Campbell, of Bath, President. 

Dist. Counties and Wards. Senators. 

1. Suffolk, Queens and Richmond 

counties, Joshua B. Smith. 

2. 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 

13th and 19th wards of Brook- 
lyn, Samuel Sloan. 

3. 6th, 8th, 9th, 10, 12th, 14th, 

15th, 16th, 17th and 18th wards 

of Brooklyn, Francis B. Spinola. 

4. 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 

and 14th wards of New York, . John 0. Mather. 

5. 10th, 11th, 13th and 17th wards 

of New York, Smith Ely, Jr. 

6. 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards 

of New York, Richard Schell. 

7. 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22d 

wards of New York,. John Doherty. 

8. "Westchester, Putnam and Rock- 

land counties, • Benj. Brandreth. 

9. Orange and Sullivan, Osmar B. Wheeler. 

10. Ulster and Greene, George W. Pratt. 

11. Dutchess and Columbia, Wm. G. Mandeville. 

12. Rensselaer and Washington,. . . . John D. Willard. 



122 MEMBERS OP THE SENATE. 

13. Albany, George J. Johnson. 

14. Delaware, Schoharie and Sche- 

nectady, Ed. I. Burhans, 

15. Montgomery, Fulton, Saratoga 

and Hamilton, George G. Scott. 

16. Warren, Essex and Franklin,. . ." Ralph A. Loveland. 

17. St. Lawrence and Franklin, Wm. A. Wheeler. 

18. Jefferson and Lewis, Joseph A. Willard. 

19. Oneida, Alrick Hubbell. 

20. Herkimer and Otsego, Addison H. Laflin. 

21. Oswego, Cheney Ames. 

22. Onondaga, James Noxon. 

23. Madison, Chenango and Cort- 

land, John J. Foote. 

24. Tompkins, Tioga and Broome, . . Lyman Truman. 

25. Wayne and Cayuga,. Alex. B. Williams. 

26. Ontario, Yates and Seneca, Truman Boardman. 

27. Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben, Alex. S. Diven. 

28. Monroe, John E. Patterson. 

29. Niagara, Orleans and Genesee, . . Horatio J. Stow. 

30. Wyoming, Livingston and Alle- 

gany, t John B. Halstead. 

31. Erie, Erastus S. Prosser. 

32. Chautauque and Cattaraugus, . . . John P. Darling. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 123 

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SENATORS. 

The Counties in which they reside, their Post Office 
Address, and Politics. 

Senators. Counties P. O. address. Politics 

Cheney Ames, Oswego,. . . . Oswego city,.. . . Rep. 

Truman Boardman, Seneca,.. .. Trumansburg, ... Rep. 

Benj. Brandreth,. .. Westchester, Sing Sing, Dem. 

Edward I. Burhans, Delaware, . . Roxbury, Dem. 

John P. Darling, . . Cattaraugus, Cattaraugus,.... Rep. 

Alex. S. Diven,. . . . Chemung,... Elmira, Rep. 

John Doherty, New York,.. New York city,. Dem. 

Smith Ely, Jr.,... New York, .. New York city,. Dem. 

John J. Foote,, . . . Madison, . . . Hamilton, Rep. 

John B. Halstead,. Wyoming, .. Castile, Rep. 

Alrick Hubbell, . . . . Oneida, Utica, Rep. 

Geo. Y. Johnson,. . Albany,.... Dunnsville, Am. 

Addison H. Laflin,. Herkimer,.. . Herkimer, Rep. 

Ralph A. Loveland, Essex, Westport, Rep. 

Wm. G. Mandeville, Columbia,.. . Stuyvesant Falls, Dem. 

John C. Mather,.' . . New York ... New York city,. Dem. 

James Noxon, Onondaga,.. Syracuse, Rep. 

John E. Patterson,. Monroe,.... Parma Centre,. . Rep. 

George W. Pratt, . . Ulster, Kingston, Dem. 

Erastus S. Prosser, . Erie, Buffalo, Rep. 

Richard Schell, New York,.. New York city,. Dem. 

George G. Scott,. .. Saratoga,. . . Ballston, Dem. 

Samuel Sloan, Kings, Brooklyn, Dem. 

Joshua B. Smith,. . Suffolk, Hauppauge, .. . . Dem. 

Francis B. Spinola, Kings, Brooklyn, . ... Dem. 

Horatio J. Stow,.. Niagara, Lewiston, Ind. 

Lyman Truman,.. .. Tioga, Owego, Rep. 

Osmer B. Wheeler,. Sullivan, Otisville, Or. co., Am. 

Wm. A. Wheeler, . . Franklin,. . . Malone, Rep. 

Joseph A. Willard,. Lewis, Lowville, Rep. 

John D. Willard,.. Rensselaer, . Troy, Dem. 

Alex. B. Williams,. Wayne, .... Lyons, Rep. 



124 MEMBERS OP THE SENATE. 

SENATE STANDING COMMITTEES. 

Claims — Patterson, Scott, Truman. 

Finance — Diven, Schell, Halstead. 

Judiciary — Noxon, Diven, J. D. Willard. 

Canals — Prosser, Loveland, Mather. 

Railroads — Darling, Brandreth, Hubbell. 

Charitable and Religious Societies — Truman, Smith, 
Prosser. 

Literature — Laflin, Foote, Scott. 

Militia — Foot, Pratt, Laflin. 

Roads and Bridges — Williams, Mandeville, 0. B. 
Wheeler. 

Grievances — Mather, Johnson, Hubbell. 

Banks — W. A. Wheeler, Sloan, Foote. 

Insurance Companies — Hubbell, Scott, Ely. 

Privileges and Elections — W. A. Wheeler, Spinola, 
Johnson. 

Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties — J. A. Wil- 
lard, 0. B. Wheeler, Spinola. 

State Prisons — Loveland, Williams, Brandreth. 

Poor Laws — Schell, J. A. Willard, Mandeville. 

Engrossed Bills — Pratt, Darling, Ely. 

Indian affairs — Boardman, Darling, J. D. Willard. 

Commerce and Navigation — Ames, Laflin, Sloan. 

Agriculture — Smith, Boardman, Burhans. 

Manufactures — Prosser, 0. B. Wheeler, Johnson. 

Retrenchment — Burhans, Doherty, Patterson. 

Public Buildings — 0. B. Wheeler, Doherty, Ames. 

Division of Towns and Counties — Scott, Mandeville, 
Boardman. 

Cities and Villages — Halstead, Ely, Noxon. 

Public Expenditures — Truman, Schell, W. A. Wheeler. 

Expiring Laws — Patterson, Doherty, Prosser. 

Medical Societies — Brandreth, Burhans, J. A. Willard. 

Public Printing — Loveland, Smith, Williams. 

Manufacture of Salt — Noxon, Ames, Mather. 

Joint Library — Pratt, Diven, J. D. Willard. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 125 



MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY. 



DE WITT C. LITTLEJOHN, 

SPEAKER. 

"A man with noble ancestry," says Pauline, in 
Bulwer's Lady of Lyons, " is like a representative of 
the past." But like the supposed prince, to whom this 
eulogy was applied, the subject of this sketch depre- 
cates the idea of being " a pensioner on the dead," 
having sprung from the people, and tracing his origin 
to an equally humble and honest source. 

Mr. Littlejohn was born in 1818, in Oneida county, 
N. Y., and while yet young, removed with his parents 
to Albany, where his mother still resides. Having 
received a complete academical education in that city, 
he removed to Oswego in 1839, where he became a 
clerk in the commission and forwarding business, in 
which he became a partner with his employer in 1842, 
and in which he is still engaged. His first prominent 
appearance in public life was in 1853, when he was an 
active and influential member of the lower branch of the 
Legislature, and during the years 1854, '55, and '57, 
he successfully occupied the same position in that body. 
As a member of the Standing Committee on Canals, he 
distinguished himself, during the session of 1853, by his 
efforts to procure the amendment to the Constitution for 



126 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the speedy enlargement of the Canals, and took a very 
active part, in the winter of 1854, in the enactment of 
a law changing the mode of awarding contracts on the 
public works. He was the candidate for Speaker, at the 
opening of that session, of the old line, national, conser- 
vative branch of the Whig party, but was defeated, in 
the caucus, by the Hon. Robert H. Pruyn, of Albany, 
who represented the free soil portion of the party, and 
who was the successful candidate for that position. In 
1855 he was chosen Speaker of the House, as the 
American candicate, and during that session, signalized 
himself by the prominent part which he enacted in the 
movement that resulted in the re-election of Mr. Seward 
to the Senate of the United States. Although his course 
on that occasion was bitterly repudiated and denounced 
by many, in consequence of his having been among the 
first to enlist in the American movement, yet he was 
triumphantly elected mayor of the city of Oswego, in the 
spring of that year, which his friends claimed to have 
been an endorsement, by his constituents, of the prom- 
inent part he took in Mr. Seward's success. In the fall 
of 1856 he was re-elected to the Assembly, as the 
Republican candidate of his district, and was again 
Speaker of that body, during the session of 1857. He 
is now again returned to his seat which he then filled, 
by a majority of over three hundred and fifty, and is once 
more the presiding officer of the House. 

Mr. Littlejohn's early political tendencies led him 
into the Whig ranks, where he remained till the disor- 
ganization of that party, when he became an American, 
subsequently a Republican, and since Mr. Seward'a 
return to the Senate of the United States, has been 
one of the most prominent and zealous members of that 
organization. As a politician, he is cautious in reach- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 127 

ing conclusions, but when once determined upon a 
course, is bold, positive, and straight-forward in action. 
He can scarcely be called a representative man, lacking 
sufficient originality for that ; but doubtless he pos- 
sesses, in a great degree, what is far better, that disci- 
pline of mind and judgment, which, at once, enables him 
to recognise reason and truth and detect fraud or fallacy. 
He is ready and decided, as a presiding officer, and pos- 
sesses a calm dignity which no confusion or excitement 
can disturb. In speaking, however, his whole manner 
is changed. He becomes nervous, impassioned, and not 
unfrequently vehement, and even the most feeble 
throught goes from his lips with the most forcible enun- 
ciation and energetic delivery. 

Mr. Littlejohn is married ; attends the Episcopal 
church ; and is personally, as well as politically, a pop- 
ular representative. He has a genial suavity of man- 
ner which never varies, and whether he addresses the 
great statesman or the messenger boy he is always the 
gentleman. 



CHAUNCEY M. ABBOTT. 

Mr. Abbott is one of the three Republican members 
of the Assembly of 1858, who voted against a Registry 
law, and to whom the people of the State are conse- 
quently indebted for the defeat of that measure. He 
was born in 1822, in Niles, Cayuga county, N. Y. His 
great grandsire was an Englishman, and he is descended 
from the Abbott family who figured so largely in the 
English judiciary. His paternal grandfather, who was 
a native of Massachusetts, and subsequently lived in 



128 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Vermont, took part in the Revolution, and at the end of 
the war, located on the same tract of land upon which 
the subject of this sketch now resides. Mr. Abbott 
attended a common school till 1837, when he studied a 
year at Poughkeepsie and about the same length of time 
at the Moravia institute, after which he took charge of 
his father's business, who had been suddenly prostrated 
by an attack of inflammatory rheumatism. This caused 
him to abandon a previous determination to become a 
professional man, and he consequently turned his atten- 
tion to farming, in which he is still engaged, besides 
being a practical surveyor and lumberman. He has held 
the office of Town Superintendent and Supervisor where 
he resides, and during the session of the Legislature of 
1858, was a member of the Standing Committee on 
State Prisons. 

He is an ardent friend of free schools and education ; 
was formerly a Democrat of strong Free Soil tenden- 
cies ; and is now a zealous Republican. He was married 
in 1845, to Miss Adaline, youngest daughter of the late 
Henry Oakley, and attends the Methodist church. 



LUCIUS C. ANDRUS. 

Mr. Andrus is the son of the Hon. Cone Andrus, of 
Malone, Franklin county, N. Y., who died in Decem- 
ber 1821. He was born at that place in March, 1809, 
and sprung from genuine English stock. After receiv- 
ing an education in his native place, he engaged in the 
mercantile trade, and remained so employed, in Wheat- 
land, Monroe county, till 1852, when he retired from 
business, and removed to the city of Brooklyn, where 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 129 

he now resides. Mr. Andrus held various town offices 
previous to his coming to Kings county, and was elected 
to his present position by a complimentary vote. He 
was always a devoted disciple of the Whig party, as 
long as it maintained its organization, and then became 
a Republican. He married Miss Mary Ann Savage, 
of Upper Middletown, Conn., in 1836, and is an exem- 
plary member of the Clinton Avenue Congregational 
society, in Brooklyn. He stands deservedly high 
wherever he is known, and possesses in an eminent 
degree, all the qualifications of a good representative. 



OHIN AYLWORTH. 

Mr. Aylworth was born in 1811, in the then town 
of Halfmoon, Saratoga county, N. Y. Both his 
parents were, also, natives of that county. His mother 
is still living, and has now attained the advanced age 
of seventy-six. His father, James P. Aylworth, who 
died 1848, at the age of sixty-four, and who was a 
Methodist clergyman, served six months in the war of 
1812, at Sackett's Harbour, aud was well and favorably 
known in Onondaga and the adjoining counties. Mr. 
Aylworth received a good common school education. 
In 1826, he removed with his parents, into Onondaga 
county, where he has since resided. He was engaged 
in mechanical pursuits till about nine years ago, when 
he embarked in the mercantile trade which he fol- 
lowed till 1855. He has held various town offices; is 
now serving his second term as a Justice of the Peace ; 
and was elected to the present House by upwards of 
seven hundred majority. He was always a Whig till 
9 



130 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the disorganization of that party, when he became a 
Republican In 1831 he married Miss Caroline Farrer ; 
usually attends the Methodist church, of which he has 
been a Trustee for some years ; possesses a good intel- 
lect, as his personal appearance clearly indicates ; and 
is an influential and useful man in the community in 
which he lives. 



MARSENA BAKER. 

Mr. Baker is a native of Brimfield, Hampden county, 
Mass., where he was born, in 1804. He is of English 
descent, and the son of Joseph Baker, who died, in 
that town, in 1840. In 1825, he emigrated to New 
York, and settled in the town of Farmersville, Catta- 
raugus county, where he is now engaged in farming, 
and the raising of cattle, which he disposes of himself, 
once a year, in the eastern market. Although possess- 
ing only a good English education, he has been a suc- 
cessful, practical, business man, and is well known 
throughout the section of State where he resides, for 
his persevering industry, and general integrity. During 
the past three years, Mr. Baker has been Supervisor in 
the town in which he lives, and this is the only promi- 
nent public position he ever held previous to his election 
to the present Assembly. He was always a staunch 
Whig, till the organization of the Republican party, to 
which he now belongs ; was married, in 1830, to Miss 
Elizabeth Benton ; and attends the Baptist church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 131 



GEORGE S. BATCHELLER. 

Mr. Batcheller was "born in Edinburgh, Saratoga 
county, N. Y., on the 25th of July, 1836, and is the 
youngest man in the House. He is of Spanish, English, 
and Welch descent, and is the son of Sherman Batchel- 
ler, who is still living, at Batchellerville, in that county, 
and who is a descendant of Roger Sherman, one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. His 
mother is now dead. Mr. Batcheller was liberally 
educated, being a graduate of Howard University, and 
is now engaged in the practice of the law, having been 
admitted to the bar in September last. His present 
position in the House is his first appearance in public 
life, but he possesses qualities which are the sure 
harbinger of eminent success and usefulness in life. 
He is both personally and politically popular ; is well 
known already for his persevering industry and integrity ; 
is a fine and liberal thinker in all religious matters ; 
and is still in the matrimonial market. 



ANSON BINGHAM. 

Mr. Bingham is one of those quiet, unassuming, and 
comparatively obscure men, whose fame seldom extends 
beyond the confines of the immediate neighborhood in 
which they live. He is a native of Connecticut, and is 
a lawyer of some ability, having been District Attorney 
some years, of Rensselaer county ; but although some- 
what advanced in years, he is too deficient in his 
knowledge of men and things to ever become a success- 



132 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ful public man. During the past few years he has 
taken an active and somewhat prominent part in the 
cause of the Anti-Kenters, and is now practicing law in 
the city of Albany, although ostensibly residing at 
Nassau, Rensselaer county, and representing the Third 
district of that county in the Assembly, to which he was 
elected by upwards of five hundred majority. Mr. B. 
is a man of family, and stands deservedly high in the 
immediate community in which he is known. Much 
more might be said in his behalf, but the author does 
not wish — nugis addere pondus. 



HENRY BLISS. 

Mr. Bliss was an influential member of the Assembly 
of 1858, and served with some distinction on the Stand- 
ing Committee on Roads and Bridges. He is a native 
of Addison county, Vermont, and was born in 1827. 
He is of English, Scotch, Dutch, and French descent. 
His paternal ancestors settled in Massachusetts, and his 
mother's family in New Jersey. His father removed to 
Vermont about the year 1814, and thence to Chautau- 
que county, New York, where he now resides. Mr. 
Bliss received an academical education, and at the age 
of eighteen turned his attention to teaching, which he 
followed about ten years in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, 
and the town where he now lives. He has been Town 
Superintendent, and is now Justice of the Peace. He 
was returned to the present House, by a majority of 
upwards of fourteen hundred over the Democratic candi- 
date. He was formerly a Woolly- Head Whig, and was 
a delegate to the Anti-Nebraska State convention at 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 133 

Saratoga, in 1854, since which time he has been a 
zealous Republican. He is a sterling temperance man ; 
and is personally and politically quite popular. 



CHAUNCEY BOUGHTON. 

Dr. Boughton was born on the 21st of January, 1805, 
in Nassau, Rensselaer co., N. Y. His ancestors were 
from Connecticut, and his father, who died in 1831, 
was a native of Westchester co., and a commissioned 
officer in the Revolution. His wife, the mother of the 
subject of this sketch, was from Fishkill, N. Y., and 
died when near seventy years of age. Dr. Boughton 
received most of his education in his native village, and 
at the age of sixteen, commenced the study of medicine, 
in Saratoga county, going to school, and teaching at 
intervals, until he was twenty-one, when he attended his 
first course of lectures, at Fairfield, Herkimer county. 
Subsequently, he began to practice in Saratoga, as a 
partner of Dr. Shaw, his brother-in-law, and former 
preceptor, whose entire office and practice he purchased 
about a year afterwards. In 1833, he attended lectures 
in Philadelphia and New York, and returning to Sara- 
toga the same year, resumed the practice, which he fol- 
lowed steadily until about six years ago, when he turned 
his attention to farming. His career, as a physician, 
has been eminently successful, and within the last quar- 
ter of a century, he has traveled, on an average, in his 
practice, over twenty thousand miles a year. For 
nearly twenty years previous to 1845, he took quite an 
active part in Military affairs, and occupied consecutively 
the positions of Sergeant, Major, Lieutenant Colonel. 



134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and Colonel of the 144th Regiment of Infantry. He 
has held various town offices, including that of Supervi- 
sor, and was a member of the Assembly in 1846. He 
was re-elected to the Assembly of 1848, and was again an 
influential and prominent member of that body as one 
of the Standing Committee on Banks. He was elected 
to his present position by a union of Americans and 
Republicans, but is closely attached to American prin- 
ciples. He was formerly a Free Soil Whig, and has 
always been an active politician. He is a man of posi- 
tive character, doing thoroughly and well whatever he 
undertakes, and is one of the most prominent, influen- 
tial, and popular men in Saratoga county. Dr. B. was 
married, in 1827, to Miss Ida J. Smith, a native of 
Vermont, by whom he has three children ; and attends 
the Baptist church. 



DANIEL BOWEN. 

Mr. Bowen is a native of Essex county, Mass., where 
he was born in 1797. He is of Welch descent. His 
ancestors were among the first settlers in that State, 
and he was born in the same old house in which his 
father and paternal grandfather were born before him, 
and which is still standing. His father, Ashley Bowen, 
died about thirty years ago in Mass. Mr. B. received 
a common English education, and learned the carriage 
making trade. In 1827 he removed into New York, 
and settled in the city of Buffalo, where he is now en- 
gaged in the manufacture of carriages. He has held 
the position of Alderman some three years ; was Super- 
intendent of Schools during the years 1840, '46, and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 135 

'49 ; and was elected to the Assembly by the Opposition, 
although voting for the Republican caucus nominees for 
officers in the organization of the House, after having, 
presided as Chairman of the American caucus. He 
claims to have been formerly a Henry Clay Whig, and 
subsequently took an active part in the organization of 
the American party. He was married in 1818, to Miss 
Lucy Rice, and belongs to the Baptist church. 



WILLIAM BRIGGS. 

Mr, Briggs was born in 1808, in Lisbon, St. Law- 
rence county, N. Y., where he has always since resided. 
He is of English descent. His father, who died in 1832, 
was among the earliest settlers in the valley of the St. 
Lawrence, and his oldest brother, the first white male 
child born in the county. His father was born in 
Dutchess county, from whence he removed to Schenec- 
tady county, and his mother was a sister of the father 
of Benjamin Tibbets, of Albany. After his mother's 
death, his father, who was a commissioned officer in the 
war of 1812, fearing to leave his children exposed, in 
his absence, to the enemy, placed them all in an ox cart, 
under the care of a trusty Frenchman, who took them in 
that way to Schenectady county, where they were dis- 
tributed among their relatives until the close of the war, 
when they returned to St. Lawrence county. Mr. 
Briggs received a common English education, and at 
the age of twenty spent about eight months as a clerk 
in a store, when his health failing, he returned home 
and remained on the farm till his fathers death. The 
farm was then divided among the children, after a pro- 



136 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

tracted law suit in which the title to it was closely con- 
tested, he taking charge of that portion assigned him, 
which he has always since cultivated, employing himself 
during the winter until 1838 by teaching. He has held 
consecutively the office of School Commissioner, Town 
Superintendent and Supervisor, and was elected to his 
present position by upwards of fourteen hundred majo- 
rity. He was also, a member of the House in 1858, 
and was a member of the Standing Committee on State 
Charitable Institutions. He was formerly a Free Soil 
"Whig ; is strongly anti-slavery in his views ; and was 
among the first to take part in the organization of the 
Republican party. He was married to his present wife, 
Mrs. Ann Bosworth, in 1854, and is a member of the 
Congregational church. 



BEMAN BROCKWAY. 

Mr. Brockway was born in 1815 in Southampton, 
Mass., and is of English descent. His father, G-ideon 
Brockway, who is a native of Connecticut, is still living 
in Chautauque county, in this State, and his mother 
died in 1855, at an advanced age. Mr. Brockway is a 
self-educated man, and a practical printer. He estab- 
lished the Maysville Sentinel, in Chautauque county, 
when only nineteen years of age, which he conducted 
some ten years, and in 1845 removed to Oswego, where 
he took charge of the Palladiu?n, of which he was editor 
and proprietor till 1853. He was then engaged on the 
New York Tribune some two years, and subsequently 
returned to Oswego county, and embarked in the mill- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 137 

ing business in Pulaski, where he now resides. He was 
a Democrat till 1848, when he took a bold position upon 
the Buffalo platform, and has been a Eepublican since 
the organization of that party. He has always been an 
active and influential politician ; is independent, frank 
and straight-forward, and is an industrious and intelligent 
member of the House. Mr. B. was married to his pre- 
sent wife, Miss Elizabeth A. Weaver, in 1855 ; and is 
Unitarian in his religious belief, with a slight sprinkling 
of Spiritualism. 



WILLIAM BUFFINGTON. 

Mr. Buffington was born in 1817, in Cambridge, 
Washington county, N. Y., and is of English and 
Scotch descent. His parents were natives of Massa- 
chusetts, from whence they removed to Maine, and 
thence to Washington county. In 1818 they went into 
Onondaga county, and in 1826 settled in Cattaraugus 
county, where the subject of this sketch now resides. 
Both his parents are now dead. Mr. B. received a 
common English education, and engaged in farming from 
the age of twenty till the opening of the New York 
and Erie railroad, when he built a hotel where the vil- 
lage of Cattaraugus now stands, which he still keeps. 
He has held various town offices, including that of 
Supervisor, and was a member of the Assembly, in 
1858, where he distinguished himself as a member of 
the Standing Committee on Indian Affairs. He was 
re-elected to the present House by nearly three hund- 
red majority. He was formerly a Free Soil Whig ; 
was among the first to enlist in the Republican move- 
ment ; is an active and decided partisan, often taking 



138 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the stump in support of the principles of his party ; an 
uncompromising Temperance man ; and never drank a 
glass of liquor in his life. He was married to his 
present, worthy wife, Miss Eleanor Ballard, in 1850 ; is 
a believer in the Calvinistic Baptist doctrine ; and a 
useful man. 



OSBORNE E. BUMP. 

Mr. Bump was born in 1828, in the town of Conk- 
ling, Broome county, N. Y. He is of English descent, 
and his maternal grandfather was the first settler in 
that section of that county. His father, Jedediah 
Bump, who is still living, came from Dutchess county 
and after living some time in Greene, settled in Broome 
county. His wife, the mother of the subject of this 
sketch, died in March last, at the age of fifty-seven. 
Mr. Bump received an academical education, and was 
reared a farmer, which has always since been his chief 
occupation. He has been a Magistrate eight years ; 
was recently re-elected to the same position for four 
years more, and comes to the Assembly by a majority 
of two hundred and twenty-five. He was always a 
Whig up to the organization of the Republican party, 
and wields a strong influence in the section of the State 
in which he resides. He is a mild, unassuming, and 
intelligent man ; and will prove himself a capable and 
industrious representative. Mr. B. was married in 
1850, to Miss Angeline Reynolds, and attends the Meth- 
odist church 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 139 



GIDEON E. BUSHNELL. 

Mr. Bushnell was born in 1820, in Hunter, Greene 
county, N. Y., and is of English descent. His paternal 
grand-parents were from West Stockbridge, Mass., and 
his father, Alvin Bushnell, who is still living, and who 
was a member of the Assembly in 1825, is a native of 
this State. Mr. Bushnell received a common school 
education, and while quite young, passed some two years 
in a store as clerk, and subsequently worked about four 
years at the tanning of sole leather. He was then 
engaged about nine years, in the tanning, lumbering, 
and mercantile business in Bushnellville, in his native 
county, and was afterwards employed three years in the 
manufacture of chairs, still continuing the mercantile 
trade. He removed in 1852, to Claryville, Sullivan 
county, where has since been largely engaged in the Hem- 
lock sole leather tannning. Mr. B. has been postmaster 
some nine years ; was captain of the Lexington artil- 
lery, in Greene county, ten years ; was subsequently 
colonel of the 20th Regiment, which he resigned in 
1857 ; has always been a straight-out national conser- 
vative Democrat of the Hard Shell school ; and is a 
sound, capable, and efficient man. He was married in 
1841, to Miss Elizabeth E., daughter of the Rev. Hez- 
ekiah Pettit, of Lexington, Greene county, and usually 
attends the Reformed Dutch church. 



140 BIOGRAPHICAL -SKETCHES. 



ALBERT CARPENTER. 

Mr. Carpenter is the only son of Charles W. Carpen- 
ter, a Methodist clergyman, who was for many years 
secretary of the New York conference, and who died 
about six years ago, respected and beloved by all who 
knew him. His wife, the mother of the subject of this 
sketch, is still living at Sag Harbour, Long Island, at 
the advanced age of sixty. Mr. C. received a good 
business education, and after living, about six years, 
in Brooklyn as a merchant, removed to Ulster county, 
where he has since been chiefly engaged in farming. 
He was a member of the Assembly in 1857, and by his 
industry and uniform attention to business, distinguished 
himself both on the floor of the House, and as a mem- 
ber of the Committees on State Charitable Institutions 
and Engrossed Bills. He was an ardent admirer of 
Henry Clay and his entire political career, but has 
entertained strong American views for thirty years, 
and is now devotedly attached to the principles and 
interests of that party. Although thoroughly booked 
up in the politics of the country, he has never claimed 
to be a very active politician, and has been almost exclu- 
sively and emphatically a business man. He was mar- 
ried in 1833 to Miss Mary H., only daughter of Jesse 
Cooper, of Brooklyn, a most excellent and popular lady; 
attends the Methodist chruch ; and is one among the 
most useful men in either branch of the Legislature. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 141 



JACOB P. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Mr. Chamberlain was born in 1802, in Worcester 
county, Mass. He is of English descent, and his 
ancestors were among the first settlers of that State. 
His father, John Chamberlain, was, also, a native of 
Massachusetts, and, by authority of that State, was one 
of the first surveyors that ever went into the State of 
Maine for the laying out of her territorial boundaries. 
Mr. C. removed with his parents, both of whom died in 
1818, into the State of New York, in the year 1807. 
He was brought up on a farm, and received a common 
English and academical education. He taught school 
a few years while young, and has since then been largely 
engaged in farming. He is, also, extensively engaged 
in milling, and is now President of the Company who 
own the Phoenix Mills, at Seneca Falls, which are 
employed in the manufacture of woolen cloths, and in 
which he is largely interested. He held some smaller 
town offices previous to his election to the present 
House ; was originally a Bucktail Democrat, then a 
Whig ; and was one among the first to embark in the 
Republican movement. He is a high-minded, honora- 
ble, and intelligent man, and is distinguished where he 
resides for his enlarged business capacities. Mr. C. 
was married in 1823 to Miss Catharine Kuney, and is 
a member of the Methodist church. 



142 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JOHN WINTHROP CHANLER. 

Mr. Chanler is a promising young man, in the morn- 
ing of life, and one of the most industrious and useful 
members on the floor of the House. He is the son of 
the Rev. John White Chanler, an Episcopal clergyman, 
and was born in 1827, in the city of New York. He 
is a descendant of John Winthrop, the first Governor 
of Massachusetts, and Petrus Stuyvesant, the last 
Director-general of New Netherlands, now New York. 
His grandfather, Dr. Isaac Chanler, who served as a 
volunteer on the medical staff during the Revolution, 
was a native of Charleston, S. C, to which place his 
father, the Rev. Isaac Chanler, emigrated as a Baptist 
Missionary, from Bristol, England, in the year 1733. 
Mr. Chanler received the rudiments of his education in 
Connecticut and Troy, N. Y., and graduated at Colum- 
bia college, as valedictorian of his class, in 1847. In 
the fall of the same year he sailed for Europe, and 
entered the law and philosophical department of the 
University of Berlin. When the government closed 
the institution, at the breaking out of the revolution 
in 1848, he commenced a traveling tour through Europe ; 
attended lectures at the University of Sorbonne, Paris; 
and after an absence of a year, returned to tho Univer- 
sity at Berlin, which had then been re-opened. After 
an absence of some three years, he returned to New 
York city, and entered the law office of Edgar S. Van 
Winkle. He was admitted to the bar in 1851, and has 
since been actively engaged in practice. He never held 
any public position before his election to the Assembly, 
in 1858, and has always been a staunch, fearless Dem- 
ocrat, of the national, conservative school. He stands 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 143 

well with his party, and received its entire vote for 
Speaker, at the organization of the present House. 



NOAH A. CHILDS. 

Mr. Childs is one of the most quiet, unostentatious, 
and laborious men in the House, and commands a large 
amount of influence in the social and political circles in 
which he moves. He hails from the Green Mountain 
State, and was born in Bakersville, Fairfield county, in 
that State, in December, 1810. He is of English 
descent, and his father, who is a native of Massachusetts, 
is still living at that place. Col. Childs, who distin- 
tinguished himself in the Mexican war, is a relative of 
his, as are also Daniel Lee Childs, of Boston, and Mar- 
cus Childs, of Canada West, who was a member of Par- 
liament for some years previous to the Revolution of 
1838. He is, likewise, a brother of Thomas Childs, 
Jr., who was a member of Congress in 1835. He was 
brought up in a dense, uncultivated forest ; received 
scarcely any educational advantages ; and at the age of 
twenty-three spent a short time in Boston, after which 
he married Miss Lucia A. Fuller, and removed to the 
city of New York, where he engaged in the milk busi- 
ness. Having followed this about ten years, he spent 
some twelve years in distilling, when he again sold out, 
and has since been chiefly engaged in traveling. He 
never held any public office before his election to the 
Assembly of 1858, where he proved himself an efficient 
representative, as Chairman of the Standing Committee 
on Roads and Bridges ; and has always been an unfal- 
tering Democrat, never refusing to contribute liberally 



144 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

from his time and means for the advancement of Demo- 
cratic principles. He attends the Congregational church, 
and has probably been more generous in his contribu- 
tions to religious and benevolent objects, than any other 
man in the community where he resides. 



STEPHEN S. CHILDS. 

Dr. Childs is a native of Berkshire county, Mass., 
and is a lineal descendant of Jonas Childs, who was a 
Captain in the Revolution. His father, Stephen Childs, 
died in 1857, and his mother is still living, at the ad- 
vanced age of sixty-eight. Dr. Childs was educated for 
the .medical profession, and has lived in the city of New 
York about ten years, where he retired from the practice 
of medicine some four years ago. Since then he has 
been chiefly devoted to various benevolent enterprises, 
and is now one of the active members of the New York 
Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the 
Poor. He took no interest whatever in politics till 
1848, when he supported Mr. Yan Buren for the Presi- 
dency, and has since then been essentially a Free Soiler, 
acting now with the Republican party. He never held 
any public office till his election to the present Assem- 
bly ; is strongly in favor of the enactment of a Registry 
Law ; is married ; and attends Dr. Spring's church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 146 



ROBERT CHRISTIE. 

Mr. Christie is a native of Troy, Rensselaer county, 
N. Y., and was born on the 10th of March, 1824. His 
parents, who are still living, at an advanced age, are 
both natives of Scotland. He was educated in the 
schools of his native city, and subsequently studied law 
with the Hon. David L. Seymore and David Buel, Jr. 
After his admission to the bar, he became a partner of 
Mr. Buel, with whom he practiced his profession in 
Troy, till about the year 1847, when he removed to the 
city of New York, where he is now one of the legal firm 
of Christie and Fairbanks, at No. 29 Wall street. As 
a lawyer he has been successful, and during his resi- 
dence in the city of Troy, was the counsel of Wm. P. 
Van Rensselaer, in his controversy with the Anti- 
Renters. Mr. Christie has always been a Democrat of 
the Hard Shell stamp, and was never a candidate for an 
office before his election to the present House, save, on 
several occasions, during the divisions of his party, 
when he ran as a stump candidate against the nominee 
of the opposing section of the Democratic party. Mr. 
C. was married in 1851, to Miss Francis J. Kelsey, a 
native of Troy, and represents his constituents truly and 
faithfully. 



HENRY B. CLARK. 

Mr. Clark is one of the most high-minded, moral, 
clear headed, and practical common sense men in the 
House, and will doubtless prove himself a quiet, unassum- 
ing, though industrious and efficient legislator. He was 
10 






146 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

born in Hoosick, Rensselear county, N. Y., in June, 
1813, and is of English descent. His father, Asel 
Clark, died in 1817, and he has always been a resident 
of his native place, where he is now engaged in farming. 
He was reared on a farm till nearly the age of seven- 
teen ; but after receiving a common school education, 
learned the wagon-making business, which he followed 
till 1854. Mr. Clark was Associate Justice of his 
native county three years ; has been a Justice of the 
Peace since 1843, and is, also, one of the Commission- 
ers of Excise. He was formerly a National Whig of 
the ture conservative stamp, and was among the first to 
engage in the American cause, after the disorganization 
of the Whig party. He was married in 1847, to Miss 
Almeda J. Mattison, and belongs to the Episcopal 
church. 



WILLIAM COBB. 

Mr. Cobb was born on the 2d of April, 1815, in 
Windham, Windham County, Vt., and is a brother-in- 
law of the Hon. Benjamin W. Dean, Secretary of 
State, and the Hon. William Harris, Jr., a member of 
the Senate of that State. He is of English descent. 
His father, Daniel Cobb, died in 1842, at the age of 
sixty-six, and his mother is still living, in Vermont, at 
the advanced age of seventy-six. Mr. Cobb received a 
common school education, and in 1834 settled in the 
town of Independence, Allegany county, N. Y., where 
he has always since resided. He is now a very large 
landholder, and extensively engaged in farming, and is 
also operating largely in the mercantile trade, the sale 
of cattle, and various other business enterprises. He 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 147 

has held various town offices, including that of Supervi- 
sor, which he filled three years ; has been Assessor four 
years ; and was an active and influential member of the 
Assembly in 1848. He was, also, Post Master from 
1836 until 1850, and was elected to the present House 
by an unusually large majority. He was formerly a 
Democrat, but supported Mr. Van Buren in 1848, and 
early identified himself with the Republican enterprise. 
In 1838, he married Miss Eliza Churchill, by whom he 
has two sons and two daughters, and attends the Baptist 
church. His eldest daughter, Emma, was married on 
the 27th of October last, to Ebenezer L. Nelson, of 
Middleboro, Mass., a young man dearly beloved by all 
that knew him, who died on the 4th of December fol- 
lowing. Although not ambitious of political preferment, 
Mr. C. is a staunch politician, and always acts in obe- 
dience to a high sense of honor and integrity, in both 
his political and business transactions. He has been 
an eminently successful business man, and will doubtless 
leave a clean record behind him at the close of the pre- 
sent Legislature. 



NOAH M. COBURN. 

Mr. Coburn is a native of Woodstock, Windham 
county, Conn. He was born in 1800, and is of Eng- 
lish descent. He is wholly a self-made man, his father 
having died when he was only twelve years of age, and 
his mother two years previous. He is the oldest of 
five children, and has been exclusively dependent upon 
his own resources since the age of seventeen. Mr. 
Coburn received a common English education, and was 
reared a farmer. He came into New York in the fall 



148 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of 1826, and settled in Madison county, where he has 
always since been a resident. He has never been an 
aspirant for official position, and his election to the pres- 
ent House, is his first appearance in public life. He 
was originally a Whig ; has been a Republican since 
the establishment of that party ; and entertains strong 
views in favor of the Temperance cause. He was mar- 
ried in 1825, to Miss Harriet Potter, and belongs to 
the Baptist church. He is a very quiet, unassuming, 
and intelligent man, and possesses a large fund of gen- 
eral information. Doubtless he will reflect credit upon 
himself and his constituents in his present position. 



JAMES J. COIT. 

Mr. Coit was born on the 3d of May. 1803, in G-ris- 
wold, New London county, Connecticut. He is of 
Scotch descent. His father, James Coit, died in 1847 
in Oswego county, N. Y., and his mother died in the 
game place in 1849. She was a sister of John Lovett, 
of Lisbon, Conn., who, after receiving a collegiate edu- 
cation, removed to Albany, where he opened one of the 
first English schools taught in that city, and who sub- 
sequently represented that Congressional district in the 
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congress. Mr. C. came into 
New York, in 1816, with his parents, who settled in 
Onondaga county. He received only a common school 
education, and for eight years was engaged in teaching 
in the winter and working on a farm during the summer. 
He has always since then been a farmer, and in 1824, 
removed into Washington, Oswego county, and settled 
on the farm on which he now lives, and which was then 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 149 

a mere wilderness. Although naturally indifferent as to 
official position, he has held numerous town offices during 
the past twenty years, including Justice of the Peace 
twelve years, and Supervisor two years. He was a 
Democrat from 1824 till 1854, voting for Mr. Van 
Buren in 1848, but was among the first to engage in the 
Republican movement. He is a staunch friend of Com- 
mon schools ; is devotedly attached to the cause of Tem- 
perance ; was married in 1827 to Miss Augustina S. 
Porter, of Wendell, Mass., who died in 1841 ; married 
his present wife, Miss Miriam Owen, of Onondaga 
county, in 1842 ; and attends the Baptist and Methodist 
churches, although of the Presbyterian faith. 



THOMAS COLEMAN. 

Mr. Coleman was born on the 16th of June, 1808, in 
the town of Barnstable, Barnstable county, Mass. His 
father, Nathaniel Coleman, who was born, and spent 
his life, in that town, engaged in sea-faring, mostly in 
the coasting trade ; was of English descent ; and his 
ancestors were among the early settlers of Plymouth 
Colony. He died in 1848, at the age of sixty-seven. 
Mr. Coleman had but very slight opportunities of 
obtaining an education, they having been merely such 
as the Common district school of his native town affor- 
ded, for a few months only in each winter, till he 
was sixteen years of age. He then, in 1824, entered 
a store in New Bedford, Mass., as a clerk, which position 
he continued t'o occupy till 1827, when he went to the 
city of Troy, where he engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness, and where he has since resided. He is now, and has 



150 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

be«n for about twenty years past, a lumber merchant, 
and has done an extensive and successful business. He 
was married in January 1839 to Miss Catharine Jane, 
daughter of Lewis Richards, Esq., a merchant of Troy. 
For several years he was a member of the Executive 
Committee of the Troy Young Men's Association, and 
was its President from 1844 till 1845. In 1852 he 
was elected a Director of the Bank of Troy, and in 1856 
was chosen a Governor of the Marshall Infirmary, a 
chartiable institution founded in Troy by the late Ben- 
jamin Marshall of that city. In the spring of 1857 he 
was elected Alderman of the third ward of Troy, and 
still holds that office, as also that of Bank Director. 

In 1829, when Mr. Coleman had become a voter, he 
united with the National Republican party, and in 1834 
joined the Whig party, to which he adhered till the 
inauguration of the American movement, when he became 
a staunch supporter of that party, and was elected to 
the present Assembly by a union of Americans and 
Republicans. At home, he is esteemed as a man of 
strict honesty and a sound, practical judgement, and 
considering his lack of early education and influential 
friends to aid him, is a fair sample of a self-made man 
— the artificer of his own fortune and position. Mr. C. 
attends the Methodist church. 



LORENZO D. COLLINS. 

Mr. Collins is emphatically a self-made man, and has 
been eminently successful in life. He was born in 1822, 
in the town of Whitehall, Washington county, N. Y., and 
is of English descent. Both his paternal and maternal 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 151 

grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. 
Daniel Collins, his father, who served in the war of 
1812, is still living, at the age of seventy-four, and his 
mother died in 1852, at the age of sixty-three. Mr. 
Collins was raised a farmer, and received nothing more 
than a common English education. In 1841 he em- 
barked in the mercantile trade in the village of West 
Troy, where he still resides, and is still so engaged. In 

1852 he was elected a Trustee, and in 1853, President, 
of West Troy, and was successful in both instances 
over large Democratic majorities. He held the posi- 
tion of Captain of the West Troy Light Guards, from 

1853 till 1857, and during the last three years has been 
a Director in the Union Bank of Troy. He was 
formerly a Henry Clay Whig, and remained firmly 
attached to that party till it abandoned its organization, 
when he enlisted in the cause of Republicanism. He 
was married in 1848, to Miss Sarah Francis Clark, who 
died in the same year, and in 1854, married his pres- 
ent estimable lady, Miss Samantha L. Hubbell, by 
whom he has two children. Mr. C. attends the Metho- 
dist church. He is an active and influential politician ; 
a man of a very high sense of honor and an incorrupti- 
ble integrity ; and will doubtless prove himself a popular 
representative. 



FREDERICK A. CONEXING. 

Mr. Conkling is a native of Canajoharie r Montgomery 
county, N. Y., and is of English, Scotch, and German 
descent. He was born on the 22d of August, 1816, and 
is the son of Alfred Conkling, whose reputation stands 



152 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

high throughout the State. Mr. C. was educated at the 
Albany Academy, passing through all the departments, 
and is now a retired merchant in the city of New York, 
where he has been an eminently successful business man. 
He was a member of the Assembly in 1854, and was 
re-elected to the present House by a majority of nearly 
four hundred over his predecessor, the Hon. Philip W. 
Engs. He was always a strong Whig of the National, 
Conservative stamp, till the dismemberment of that 
party, when he at once became a Republican. He is a 
man of strong common sense ; is distinguished for his 
honesty and integrity ; is a forcible and concise speaker ; 
and is one of the leading and most industrious men in 
the House. 



RICHARD J. CORNELIUS. 

Mr. Cornelius was born in 1806, in the town of Stan- 
ford, Dutchess co., N. Y. He is of Scotch and Dutch 
descent, and both his parents, who removed to Stanford 
in 1800, were natives of Queens county, Long Island. 
His mother died in 1827, and his father, in 1842. Mr. 
Cornelius received only a common English education, 
and was successfully engaged in teaching in his native 
town, and in Amityville, Suffolk county, where he now 
resides, from the age of twenty till about the year 1835, 
since which time he has been chiefly engaged in the 
mercantile trade, besides being several years proprietor 
of a line of stages running from Amityville to Brook- 
lyn. He has filled various town offices since 1835 ; 
has been post-master about six years ; was captain of 
the 137th Regiment of Infantry ; and subsequently was 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 153 

promoted to the position of Colonel, from which he was 
honorably discharged upon the repeal of the law. He 
has always been an old-fashioned Democrat of the 
Andrew Jackson school, and was elected to the Assem- 
bly by a handsome majority. He was brought up to 
attend the Friends or Quaker church, but belongs to no 
religious sect ; was married in 1835 to Miss Pheba 
Ireland ; and is one of the substantial men of the 
House. 



PATRICK C. COSTELLO. 

Mr. Costello is a man of some legislative ability, and 
is a successful tanner and leather merchant, at Camden, 
Oneida county, N. Y., where he has been an influential 
resident for some years. He was elected to the Assem- 
bly by a majority of over three hundred, and is the 
successor of Col. Halley, who was one of the most quiet, 
clever, and popular members of the last Legislature. 
Mr. Costello is a strong Republican, but has never 
wielded any very great political strength, having devoted 
himself almost exclusively and assiduously to his busi- 
ness operations. He was elected Assessor of the town 
where he resides, last spring, and comes to the Assem- 
bly in consequence of his personal popularity, and the 
Republican strength in his district. He is a quiet, 
unpretending man, but although standing high in the 
private relations of life, will not likely distinguish him- 
self during his legislative career, by any very rare 
exhibitions of brilliant oratory or profound statesman- 
ship. It may be, however, that by close confinement 
to the miasma and gass of the Assembly chamber, he 



154 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

may ultimately show some signs of undeveloped 
genius ; 

11 For genius swells more strong and clear, 
When close confin'd — like bottled beer." 



HENRY CREBLE. 

Mr. Creble is one of those men whom fortuitous cir- 
cumstances occasionally throw temporarily, to the sur- 
face of public attention, and through whose general 
incompetency the State not unfrequently suffers by im- 
proper legislation. The evils of self-government are 
not so much the result of the unscrupulous and wicked 
motives of bad men as the incompetency of good men. 
So in this case. Although a man of respectability and 
comparative intelligence in the little private circle for 
which nature particularly designed him, Mr. Creble is 
almost entirely worthless when entrusted with the dis- 
charge of duties which require views broad and compre- 
hensive enough to include, not merely the little petty 
interests of a particular locality, but the paramount 
welfare of a great and powerful State. In other words, 
he is too full of local patriotism to be any thing else 
than purely and necessarily sectional, and hence we find 
him, naturally enough, signalizing his very first appear- 
ance almost in the House, by the introduction of a 
measure, compelling every ward and town in the city 
and county of Albany to take care of their own poor. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 155 



WICKHAM R. CROCKER. 

Dr. Crocker was born in 1814, near the city of Bath, 
England. When about eight years of age, he came to 
America, with his parents, who settled in this State, 
and who died in Steuben county, about ten years ago, at 
a ripe old age. Dr. C. received a liberal academical 
education, and was prepared for the medical profession 
at Geneva. He was then extensively engaged in prac- 
tice until about six years ago, when he partially retired 
from his profession in consequence of impaired health. 
He has held various town offices, including that of 
Justice of the Peace four years ; was Post Master under 
the administration of President Pierce ; and occupied 
the position of Sergeant in the Militia under Grov. 
Bouck. Although voting for Mr. "Van Buren in 1848, 
he was always a straight-forward, consistent Democrat 
till the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, when he 
became a Republican. He is an intelligent and very 
active and useful man, and is highly esteemed wherever 
he is known — especially in the county of Steuben, where 
he has resided for twenty years. He is high-minded, 
dignified, independent, and self-reliant, both in public 
and private life, as is clearly indicated by his tall, 
manly personal appearance, and is scrupulously upright 
and honest. Dr. C. was married in 1853 to his last 
wife, Miss Helen M. Flint, who died in the spring of 
1858, and he is a member of the Episcopal church. 



156 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JOSEPH DAVIS. 

Mr. Davis is one of the oldest, most experienced, and 
influential members of the Assembly. He is of Dutch 
and Welch descent, and was born on the 14th of Decem- 
ber, 1795, in the town of Minisink, Orange county, N. 
Y. His father, John Davis, who died in that place 
about the year 1791, was an influential and highly use- 
ful man in his day, and was universally respected and 
esteemed by all who knew him. Mr. Davis was educa- 
ted in a common district school, and was reared a farmer 
which is still his chief occupation. This is his third 
term in the Assembly, and he has been President of 
the Middletown Bank for twenty years. He has, also, 
filled numerous town offices, including that of Justice 
of the Peace four years, and is now Supervisor, which 
position he has held during the past seven years. He 
was originally a Bucktail, Jackson Democrat, and was 
an ardent friend of Henry Clay, adhereing closely to 
the Whig party till it abandoned its organization, when 
be became a Republican. He was married in 1814, to 
Miss Elizabeth Decker ; belongs to the Presbyterian 
church ; and discharges his legislative duties with credit 
alike to himself and his constituency. 



H. B. DURYEA. 

,. Gen. Duryea was born in Newtown, Queens county, 
N. Y., on the 12th of July, 1815, and is of French 
Huguenot and Dutch descent. His ancestors were 
among the first settlers on Long Island, where his 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 157 

parents were both born. He studied law in the office 
of Judge Greenwood, in the city of New York, who 
was subsequently his law partner. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1836, and immediately commenced prac- 
ticing in Brooklyn, where he is still engaged in his pro- 
fession. He became commander of the Fifth Brigade 
of the uniformed militia of the State, located in the 
county of Kings, in 1848, which position he now holds, 
and has just been elected President of the State Military 
Association. He was appointed Supreme Court Com- 
missioner, under Gov. Seward, in 1842 ; subsequently 
attorney to the corporation of Brooklyn ; and was Dis- 
trict Attorney of Kings county from 1848 till 1854. 
He was a member of the Assembly, in 1858, where he 
occupied an influential position on the Standing Com- 
mittees on Ways and Means, and the Militia and Public 
Defense. He was re-elected to the present House by 
a majority of nearly five hundred. He was always a 
Whig, till the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, when 
he became an active and ardent Republican. 



DAVID EARLL. 

Mr. Earll is the son of Peter Earll, who now resides in 
Michigan, and is a distant relative of Nehemiah Earll, 
who once represented the Onondaga district in Congress, 
and of Jonas Earll, who has been well and favorably 
known as Canal Commissioner of this State. He is of 
English and Dutch descent, and was born in 1819, in 
the town of Lysander, Onondaga county, N. Y. He 
received a common school education, and having studied 
medicine from the age of twenty until twenty-two, he fol- 



158 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

lowed that profession some nine years, when lie abandoned 
it, and was elected a Justice of the Peace, which office 
he held eight years. He has also occupied various other 
town offices, including that of Supervisor, and Coroner, 
and was elected to the present Legislature by a majority 
of nearly three hundred. He was always a Democrat 
till 1856, when he became a Republican, and is person- 
ally and politically, one of the most popular men in the 
county of Tioga, where he now resides. Mr. Earll is 
now engaged in lumbering and farming ; was married in 
1845 to Miss Louisa F. Ransom; and entertains liberal 
religious views, confining himself to no particular denom 
ination. He is a useful man, and the present House 
will feel his influence before its final adjournment. 



ABEL EVELAND. 

Mr. Eveland is one of the three intelligent and sub- 
stantial members of the House from the county of 
Steuben. He was born in the town of Greenwich, Sus- 
sex county, N. J., in June, 1812, of German and 
English descent, and in 1823, came to New York, with 
his mother, brother, and some other relatives, and set- 
tled in Steuben county, where he has since chiefly 
resided. His mother died when he was only about ten 
years of age, and he received only such an education 
as could be afforded by a common school in a new coun- 
try to an orphan, without either the means or the sup- 
port of influential friends. During the greater portion 
of his life he has been engaged in farming, boat-build- 
ing, and mercantile pursuits, and is now occupied in 
farming and lumbering. He has held numerous town 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 159 

offices ; has been a Justice of the Peace eight years ; 
was an uncompromising Democrat of the Jeffersonian 
school, till the organization of the Republican party ; 
and is a plain, straight-forward, common-sense man, of 
the popular stamp. Mr. E. was married in 1836, to Miss 
Matilda Houk, and confines himself to no particular 
church in his attendance upon religious worship. 



SAMUEL J. FARNUM. 

Mr. Farnum was born in 1806, in the town of Uxbridge, 
Worcester county, Mass. He came to New York in 
1816, and settled in the town of Poughkeepsie, where 
he learned the tanning business. He then removed to 
Newburgh, Orange county, where he engaged in tan- 
ning until about two years ago, when he returned to 
Poughkeepsie, where he now resides. He was a promi- 
nent and influential man in the village of Newburgh, 
having held the position of President and Supervisor, 
and in 1852 ran unsuccessfully in that district for Con- 
gress. He was formerly a Seward Whig ; was among 
the first to enlist in the Republican movement ; now 
holds the position of Alderman in the city of Pough- 
keepsie ; is a shrewd, calculating politician ; and has 
been a very successful business man. He has a very 
good mind and a sound judgment, and is doubtless one 
of the most reliable men in the House. Mr. Farnum 
was married in 1829, to Miss Sarah Ann Swartout, by 
whom he has three daughters and one son — children of 
whom he may well feel proud. 



160 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

MORGAN L. FILKINS, 

Mr. Filkins is the twentieth of twenty-five children, 
and was born in 1826, in the town of Berne, Albany 
county, N. Y., of English and Dutch descent. His 
paternal ancestors were originally from Dutchess county, 
and his father, who was a volunteer in the war of 1812, 
after living a while in Rensselaer, removed into Albany 
county, where he died in 1841. His maternal grand- 
father came to America as a soldier under Burgoyne, 
and after the latter's surrender, remained in the service 
till 1783, when he was honorably discharged at West 
Point. His mother is still living at the age of sixty- 
six. Mr. Filkins received an academical education; 
studied medicine at Honesdale, Penn,; and has since 
been engaged in the Patent Medicine business, being 
the inventor of Dr. Filkin's Sugar Coated Pills and the 
proprietor and manufacturer of Blackman's Genuine 
Healing Balsam and Valuable Strenghtening Plasters. 
He was formerly a Whig ; since the organization of the 
American party has been among the most active, intel- 
ligent, and successful supporters of its principles ; and 
was elected to his present position by a combination of 
Republicans and Americans. Mr. F. was married in 
1853, to Miss Henrietta A. Blackman, by whom he has 
three children ; attends the Baptist church ; and is one 
of the most valuable men in the House. 



MICHAEL FITZGERALD. 

Mr. Fitzgerald is a native of London, England, where 
he was born in 1830, and is of Irish descent. In 1834 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 161 

he came with his parents to the city of New York, 
where he and his aged mother still reside, his father 
having died in 1843. He received an ordinary English 
education, and at the age of fifteen served his time as a 
calico printer, at which he afterwards worked some six 
years. In 1851 he sailed for California, and passed a 
year as fireman on the Golden Gate, then running be- 
tween Panama and the city of San Francisco. Subse- 
quently he passed eighteen months in the mines, and 
returned to New York, where he has since been chiefly 
occupied in the police department of that city. He has 
also been long an active fireman there ; always a Demo- 
crat ; is still single ; was a member of the Assembly in 
1858, occupying a. position on the Standing Committee 
on Charitable and Religious Societies ; and was re- 
elected to the present House by a flattering vote. He 
is a very quiet, unostentatious, und agreeable man, and 
is personally and politically popular. 



FIRMAN FISH. 

Mr. Fish was born in 1802, in Trenton, Oneida 
county, N. Y., and is of English descent. His ances- 
tors settled in Rhode Island, and both his paternal and 
maternal grandfathers lived a while in Massachusetts, 
and subsequently settled in Whitestown, Oneida county, 
in this State. The former afterwards died in that 
county, and the latter in the county of Jefferson. His 
father, Ebenezer Fish, died in 1848, and his mother is 
still living at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Fish removed, 
with his parents, into Jefferson county in 1804. He 
received a common school education, and at the age of 
11 



162 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

fourteen was apprenticed to the tanning, currying, and 
shoeniaking trade, which he afterwards followed till 
1839, when he removed into the town of Cape Vincent, 
where he has since been devoting himself to farming. 
He was Magistrate in the town of Rutland in his native 
county from 1832 till '36, and was elected to the Assem- 
bly by a majority of upwards of three hundred. He 
cast his first vote for John Quincy Adams for President, 
but took no very active part in politics till the organiza- 
tion of the Republican party. He was married in 1826 
to Miss Caroline Rose ; attends the Universalist church ; 
and is well qualified for a legislative position. 



SAMUEL L. FULLER. 

Mr. Fuller is a lineal descendant of the Pilgrim 
Fathers, and was born in 1818 in Geneseo, Livingston 
co., N. Y. His mother came from Connecticut, and his 
father, the Hon. P. C. Fuller, who died in 1854, was a 
native of Berkshire county, Mass. He occupied consec- 
utively a position in the Assembly, State Senate, and 
lower branch of Congress, and in 1836, resigned his 
seat in the latter body, and removed to Adrian, Michi- 
gan, where he took charge of a bank. He was, also, 
Assistant Post Master General, under the Hon. Francis 
Granger, and after his return to Livingston county, 
became Comptroller, in 1851, to fill a vacancy for one 
year. Mr. Fuller received an. academical education, 
and was engaged in engineering and surveying in Michi- 
gan till 1840, when he returned to Livingston connty, 
where was an agent upon the estate of the Hon. C. H. 
Carroll, till 1844. He then married Arthuretta S. Van 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 163 

Vechten, a native of Albany, and commenced farming 
in Conesus, Livingston county, where he remained till 
1854, when he removed into Seneca county, where he 
continued farming until 1856, when he returned to the 
town of Conesus, his present place of residence. He 
has been an eminently successful farmer, and was absent 
from the country in Europe, in 1853, some three months, 
by authority of the Livingston county Cattle and Import- 
ing Society. He is an industrious, well-meaning man ; 
is not a radical politician, though closely attached to the 
principles of the Republican party ; and is a member of 
the Episcopal church. 



THOMAS A. GARDINER, 

Mr. Gardiner was born on the 2d of August, 1832, 
in the city of New York, and in 1840 removed to 
Brooklyn, where he has always since resided. His 
mother was, also, a native of the city of New York ; 
but his father, George W. Gardiner, who died in January, 
1852, came to this country from Ireland, when quite 
young, and became a New York merchant. Mr. Gardiner 
was educated at a private select school in Brooklyn, and 
is now engaged in the manufacture of silk hats. During 
the pecuniary panic in 1857, he was a clerk in the Post 
Office in that city, but abandoned the position as soon 
as business had again revived. He has always, like his 
father before him, been an unswerving National Demo- 
crat, and was elected to his present position by nearly 
one thousand majority. He belongs to the Roman 
Catholic church ; is not married ; is shrewd and calcu- 
lating, both in private and political transactions ; and 
enjoys a high degree of personal popularity. 



164 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



HARLOW GODARD. 

Mr. Godard is of French and Scotch descent, and was 
born in 1804, in Leyden, Lewis county, N. Y. His 
parents were from Connecticut, and are now both dead. 
He removed into St. Lawrence county in 1815, and is 
still a resident of Richville, in that county. He was 
reared on a farm, and received a common school and 
academical education. After leaving school he taught 
four years, and four years afterwards embarked in the 
mercantile trade, which he followed some fifteen years. 
Since then he has been chiefly occupied in the real 
estate business. He has held several town offices ; has 
"been Magistrate over twenty years ; was Loan Commis- 
sioner in 1842 and '43 ; was a member of the As- 
sembly in 1849, '50, and '58 ; and was again elected to 
the seat he now occupies by a majority of nearly fifteen 
hundred. He is now, also, filling his second term as 
one of the Justices of the Sessions. He was originally 
a Democrat ; supported Van Buren in 1848 , now drills 
in the Republican ranks ; and has always been an active 
politician. He was married in 1828 to Miss Mary Ann 
Rich, and attends the Baptist church, to which his wife 
belongs. 



WILLIAM C. GOVER. 

Mr. Gover was born in 1818 in the city of Philadel- 
phia, and when about nine years of age, removed with 
his parents to the city of New York, where he has 
always since resided. His father, George Willoughby 
Augustus Gover, who was stationed at Fort Hamilton, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 165 

Long Island, during the war of 1812, was a native of 
London, England, and his mother was born in the city 
of Baltimore. At the age of fourteen he was left alone, 
by the death of his father, with his mother and two 
younger children, their entire dependence thus devolv- 
ing upon him, and from that time to this he has never 
been idle, and has met with the most gratifying success. 
His means of education^ under the circumstances in 
which he was placed at so young an age, were necessarily 
very limited; but nevertheless by industry, integrity, 
and perseverance, he has become one of the most intel- 
ligent and reliable men in the neighborhood where he 
resides. 

Mr. Gover was a Sergeant of Police previous to the 
3d of July, 1857, when, as he claims, he was fraudu- 
lently dismissed from the position by the Board of 
Police Commissioners, and he is now engaged in Litho- 
graphic painting. He has always been a Democrat of 
the Hard Shell, Jeffersonian school, and wields conside- 
rable influence among the better class of New York 
politicians. At the age of twenty-eight he married Miss 
Caroline Cropsey, a lady of superior female excellence, 
who is now dead, and by whom he has two daughters. 
He usually attends the Universalist church. 



JUDSON L. GRANT. 

Mr. Grant was born in July, 1815, in the town of 
Smithville, Chenango co., N. Y. He is a descendant of 
Increase Grant, who was one of the original stock that 
came to this country from Scotland, and who settled in 
Litchfield, Conn., where Jared Grant, the father of the 



166 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

subject of this sketch, was horn, Mr. Grant's mother, 
whose maiden name was Betsy Judson, is still living, 
and his father, who was one of the first settlers on 
Smithville Flates, in Chenango county, died in 1849. 
He received a common school education, and was reared 
a farmer, although naturally a mechanic. He has filled 
several town offices, including that of school district 
Clerk, which he held from the age of eighteen until 
about two years since. He was elected to the Assembly 
by a majority of nearly two hundred and fifty ; was a Sew- 
ard Whig till the organization of the Republican party ; 
is an active and influential politician ; and has already 
proved himself a good representative. Mr. G. was mar- 
ried in 1842, to Miss Mariaume, daughter of Erastus 
Agard ; and was reared a Baptist. He is a quiet and 
unassuming man, but discharges thoroughly and effi- 
ciently whatever duty he undertakes, and enjoys an 
excellent reputation both in public and private life. 



HENRY K. GRAVES. 

Mr. Graves is one of those self-made men for whom 
this country is peculiarly distinguished^ and by his 
industry, morality, and strict integrity has thus far 
lived a successful life. He was born on the 22nd of 
May, 1807, in Scipio, Cayuga county, N. Y., and 
sprung from good old English stock. When only six 
years of age, his father, Archelaus Graves, died, and 
four years afterwards, he was thrown upon his own 
resources, without a farthing, for a support. He was 
reared chiefly in Onondaga county ; received a common 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 167 

English education, and removed into "Wayne county, 
where he now resides, in 1846. He has followed the 
mercantile trade since the age of twenty-one with unin- 
terrupted success ; has occupied various town offices, 
including that of Supervisor, which he held from 1852 
till 1856 ; and has been Post Master eight years. He 
was formerly a strong Democrat, with Free Soil 
proclivities, and is now a genuine Republican. Mr. 
Graves was married in 1831, to Miss Sophia Pomeroy, 
and is a free thinker, of the most liberal stamp, in all 
religious matters. 



SOLOMON GRAVES. 

Mr. Graves'is an educated man, having graduated at 
Union College, Schenectady, in 1842, and is about forty- 
years of age. He is successfully engaged in farming at 
Grravesville, Herkimer county, and is probably quite as 
well qualified for that honest occupation as a proper 
discharge of the duties with which the good people of 
his district have entrusted him. He was formerly a 
Whig, but since the dissolution of that party has been a 
Republican, and was elected to the Legislature by 
upwards of seven hundred and fifty majority over his 
Democratic competitor. He possesses some practical 
ability, and enjoys a high degree of personal respecta- 
bility in the immediate community in which he resides ; 
but he is not especially qualified to successfully oppose 
the corruptions of lobby influences and the venality of 
party demagogues. He is too unsuspecting for this, 
and it will not be until he shall have served an appren- 
ticeship in the Legislative Chamber of the State, under 



168 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

the direct and incessant attacks of a multitude of public 
thieves, who swarm around the Capitol during the season 
of legislation, like a flock of carrion crows, that he will 
fully appreciate the depravity of human nature. 



LESTER GREEN. 

Mr. Green is a native of Danube, Herkimer county, 
N. Y,, where he was born, in 1808, and where he now 
resides. He is a distant connection of Gen. Green, 
and a son of John L. Green, who died in that town, in 
1851. Mr. Green received a common school education, 
and although reared a farmer, is now engaged in the 
provision and grocery business. He has held some 
unimportant town offices, and was elected to the present 
Assembly by upwards of one thousand majority. He 
was formerly a Whig, and now acts with the Republican 
party. He married Miss Emily Herkimer, in 1832, 
and attends the Lutheran church. He is a man of 
capacity and high respectability, and wields a strong 
influence in the section of the State where he resides. 
He is strictly honest, and is not one of those men from 
whom the lobby receive any encouragement in their 
wholesale depredations upon the public purse. 



MONROE HALL. 

Mr. Hall is a native of Jay, Essex county, N. Y., 
where he has always resided, and was born on the 4th 
of June. 1817. When only ten years of age, his father 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 169 

died, leaving two sons and two daughters, and he was 
thus early thrown almost entirely upon his own resources. 
He is of English descent. His father was from New 
Hampshire ; his mother from St. Albans, Vermont ; and 
at an early age both removed to Jay, where they were 
always identified with the interests of that section of 
the State from its earliest settlement. Mr. Hall received 
the rudiments of his education at Le Roy, N. Y., and 
at Williston, Bennington, and Brandon, Vermont, and 
after spending a year in Brown University, was obliged 
to abandon his studies, in consequence of inflammation 
in his eyes. In 1841, he embarked in the mercantile 
trade, which he followed till 1857, employing himself 
extensively at the same time in the iron business, on 
Ausable river, and in dealing in a large amount of real 
estate which was left him by his father. He is now a 
successful farmer and a practical surveyor. His busi- 
ness relations were such for several years, that he was 
required to pass a considerable time in the office of the 
late Hon. George A. Simmons, where he became fami- 
liar with the principles and general practice of the law. 
He has held various town offices, and was a capable and 
efficient member of the Assembly in 1858. He was a 
strong Whig till 1848, when he mounted the Buffalo 
platform, on which he stood until the Barnburners went 
back to the Democratic ranks, when he again joined the 
Whigs, with whom he remained till he became a Repub- 
lican. He married Miss Juliet M., second daughter of 
the Hon. Ezra C. Gross, in 1841, and in 1854 was mar- 
ried to his present excellent wife, Miss Emma Prindle, 
eldest daughter of Benjamin Wells. He is a strong 
Temperance man, both in practice and principle, and 
has been a member of the Baptist church about twenty- 
five years. 



170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



HENRY P. HEERMANCE. 

Mr. Heermance is a native of Columbia county, N. 
Y., a section of the State prolific of great men. He is 
of genuine Dutch descent, and was born in the year 
1805. His father, Israel Heermance, died in that 
county in 1826, at an advanced age. Mr. Heermance 
was educated in a common school in his native place ; 
has always been an active, successful business man, and 
is now engaged in milling and farming. He was a 
member of the Board of Supervisors of Columbia 
county in 1842, and is now Post Master at Glenco Mills, 
in that county, where he resides. He has always been 
an old fashioned Democrat of the Jackson stamp, and 
although more of a business man than a politician, is 
thoroughly booked up in the general history of the 
country, and the current movements of the times. He 
was married in 1830 to Miss Elizabeth Fonda ; belongs 
to the Dutch Reformed Church ; and is one of the most 
efficient and reliable men in the Legislature. 



ARTHUR HOLMES. 

Mr. Holmes is of English and Scotch descent, and 
was born in 1831, at Westford, Otsego county, N. Y. 
He is the son of a farmer, John P. Holmes, and in 
1838 removed, with his parents, who are still living, into 
Cortland county, where he now resides. He remained 
on his father's farm till about the age of nineteen, when 
he prepared for college, and graduated, with the first 
honors of his class, at Central College, McGrawville, in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 171 

1855. Meanwhile, he taught a year, having charge of 
Sherburne academy, in Chenango county, and then passed 
a term at the Albany Law school, after which he accepted 
a professorship of Logic, History, and English literature, 
in Central College. This position he occupied nearly 
two years, when he resigned, and has since then been 
chiefly engaged in literary pursuits. His political affini- 
ties were originally with the Whig party, but he has 
always been a zealous advocate of Republican principles, 
and has not unfrequently taken the stump m their 
behalf. He is a ready speaker, and has distinguished 
himself both on the stump, and as a public lecturer. 
In 1856, he was the chosen orator of the Alumni Asso- 
ciation of his alma mater, and had conferred upon him, 
at the last commencement at Union College, the degree 
of Master of Arts. He is a young man of unexcep- 
tionable character; possesses a knowledge of public 
affairs far beyond mosl men of his age ; is studious and 
industrious ; still single ; and belongs to the Congrega- 
tional church. 



ELIAS C. HOLT. 

Dr. Holt was born in 1823, in the town of Penfield, 
Monroe county, N. Y., and is a descendant of the great 
English jurist, Chief Justice Holt. His ancestors 
came to America in 1720, and settled at Kennedy, in 
the Colony of Connecticut. His father, William Holt, 
who settled in Monroe county, in 1812, on the same 
farm on which he is now living, was born in the State 
of Connecticut ; and his mother, who died in 1852, was 
a native of Vermont. Dr. Holt received an academical 
education at the village of Webster, in his native town, 



172 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and in June, 1847, graduated from the Medical depart- 
ment of the University of Vermont. He entered upon 
the practice of his profession in 1848, in Bennington, 
Wyoming county, where he still resides, and where he 
is now engaged in an extensive practice. He was Super- 
visor of his town in 1854, and comes to the Legislature 
by a majority of nearly twelve hundred. He was for- 
merly a Democrat, but supported Gen. Taylor for the 
Presidency in 1848, and acted with the Whig party till 
the inauguration of the Republican movement. He is 
a modest and unassuming man, but has always been an 
active politician, and wields a strong influence in the 
community where he resides. Dr. H. married Miss 
Cornelia, only daughter of Dr. Witter, of Chaplin, 
Conn. ; and attends the Presbyterian church. He 
never indulges in superfluous speech making, but 
thinks and acts as becomes a capable representative. 



GAYLORD B. HUBBELL. 

Mr. Hubbell was born on the 24th of December, 
1812, in the town of Coeymans, Albany, county, N. Y. 
He is of English and Scotch descent, and his paternal 
grandfather, Shadrick Hubbell, served as a captain dur- 
ing the Revolution. He is emphatically a self-made 
man, his father, Amos Hubbell, who was a native of 
New Milford, Conn., having died at Coxsackie, in this 
State, when he was only about nine years oi age, leav- 
ing him and his mother, with eight daughters, entirely 
upon their own resources for a support. After his 
father's death, Mr. Hubbell was obliged to obtain a liv- 
ing in various ways, until he had attained his fifteenth 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 173 

year, when he was apprenticed to the tanning business. 
At the age of nineteen he removed to Catskill, Greene 
county, where he completed his trade, receiving, in the 
mean time, only a very ordinary English education, and 
at the age of twenty-two, removed to Peekskill, "West- 
chester county. He was then engaged from 1836 till 
about the year 1855, in the hard-ware business in Sing 
Sing, and the city of New York, and is now engaged 
in the manufacture of files at Sing Sing where he 
resides. He has always been an active, thorough-going 
business man, and has held no important public position 
till his election to the present House. He was formerly 
a Whig ; isnow a st aunch Republican ; was married in 
1837 to Miss Harriet Auser ; has belonged to the Pres- 
byterian church twenty years ; and is highly esteemed 
as a valuable man wherever he is known. 



A. HUTCHINSON. 

Mr. Hutchinson is of English descent, and was born 
in 1811, in Remsen, Oneida county, N. Y. His parents 
were natives of Connecticut, and settled in Oneida 
county about the commencement of the present century. 
In 1816, they removed into what is now Orleans, then 
Genesee county, and located on the same farm on which 
the subject of this sketch is now living. Mr. Hutchin- 
son received a common school education, and has always 
been a farmer, besides teaching, during the winter, from 
1828 till '34. He was a member of the House in 1857, 
and again in 1858, and has proven himself a capable 
and efficient representative. He was formerly a Whig, 
and took part in the organization of that party ; was 



174 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

then a prominent Liberty party man ; and is now an 
earnest and influential Republican. He married Miss 
Mary G-. Short, in 1845 ; and is a member of the Con- 
gregational church. He is a leading member of the 
House ; a man of sterling integrity ; has a capacity for 
facts and figures seldom surpassed ; is a good, off-hand 
debater; and has the strongest voice in the House, 
which he not unfrequently exercises to a good advantage. 



GEORGE A. JEREMIAH. 

Mr. Jeremiah was born in 1826, in the city of New 
York, where his parents, who are still living, were born 
before him. He received an academical education, and 
at the age of fifteen went to the trade of a wheelright, 
at which he has always since been extensively engaged. 
He has been some time connected with the schools of 
New York ; was a member of the Assembly in 1858, 
when he held the position of Chairman of the Standing 
Committee on Grievances, and was returned to the 
present House by a majority of upwards of thirteen hun- 
dred. He has always been a Democrat and an active 
politician, cherishing a close allegiance to party obliga- 
tions ; is a married man ; and in the cant phrase of the 
day, is "a good, clever fellow" — which liberally inter- 
preted, means that he is not capable of upsetting the 
Capitol. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 175 



BARNA R. JOHNSON. 

Mr. Johnson is one of the most popular men in the 
Legislature, and discharges his legislative duties with 
more than ordinary tact and ability. He was born in 
the town of Colchester, Delaware county, N. Y., in 
1825. He is of Irish and Dutch descent. Some of his 
paternal ancestors were prominent in the Irish rebellion 
of 1798, and his maternal grandfather was an active 
soldier in the American army during the Revolution. 
His father, Henry Johnson, died in Colchester, in 1849, 
at the age of seventy-two, and his mother died in 1858, 
at the age of seventy -four. 

Mr. Johnson was educated at the Delaware and Rhine- 
beck Academies ; pursued his legal studies in the Law 
School at Albany; and is now successfully engaged in 
the practice of his profession. He occupied the posi- 
tion of County Superintendant of Common Schools in 
his native county, when only twenty-one years of age ; 
has been Town Superintendant of Common Schools four 
or five years ; and in 1857 was a member of the Assem- 
bly, where he held an influential position upon the Judi- 
ciary Committee. His early political associations were 
with the Whig party, but since the organization of the 
Republican movement he has been a live member of that 
party. As a lawyer, he has already gained a high rank 
in the section of State in which he resides, enjoying the 
implicit confidence of all his clients, and is known 
almost every where as an unyielding friend of the 
Common School system of this State. In private as 
in public life, he stands deservedly high, and is 
respected and esteemed by all who know him. Mr. J. 
was married in 1857 to Miss Julia Becker, of Schoharie 



176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

county, and attends the Presbyterian church. He is 
doubtless one of the most promising young men in the 
House. 



JOHN S. KING. 

Mr. King was born in 1804, in the town of Rensse- 
laerville, Albany county, N. Y. His parents came 
from Connecticut, about the beginning of the present 
century, and settled in that town, from whence they 
removed into the town of Scipio, Cayuga county, in 
1806. His father, Rial King, died in Scipio, in 1813, 
and his mother died, where he now resides, in 1847, at 
the advanced age of seventy-four. His paternal grand- 
father was a Lieutenant in the Revolution, where he 
was distinguished for his military skill and bravery. 
Shortly after his father's death, Mr. King went into 
Madison county, where he remained till he was old 
enough to take charge of the family of which he was 
the oldest child. He received only a common business 
education, and after he was twenty-one years of age, 
learned the wool-carding and cloth-dressing trade, 
which he followed about six years, when he abandoned 
it, in consequence of ill health. Since then he has 
been engaged in farming and various manufacturing 
enterprises, and has met with gratifying success. He 
has held various town offices ; was formerly an old line, 
Henry Clay Whig ; then became a staunch American ; 
and was elected to the present House as the Union can- 
didate, by a majority of over eight hundred. Although 
by no means ambitious of political preferment, he is a 
sound politician, and is deservedly a popular man. Mr. 
K. was married in 1834, to Miss Mary Ann McCarty, 






BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 177 

of Susquehanna county, Pa., who died in 1851, and by 
whom he has four sons, and in December of the same 
year married his present wife, Mrs. Lizzie Brown, at 
Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio, by whom he has one 
son and a daughter. He was reared a Presbyterian, 
and now attends the Methodist church. 



ABRAHAM D. LADEW. 

Mr. Ladew is one of the oldest men in the House, 
having been born in July, 1790, in the town of Fish- 
kill, Dutchess county, N. Y. He is of French and Eng- 
lish descent, and his father, Daniel Ladew, died in 
Ulster county, in 1832. He removed into that county, 
with his parents, while yet quite young, and received a 
common English education. He subsequently learned 
the black-smithing trade, and in 1830, erected the 
largest tannery in Ulster county, which he carried on 
some twenty-one years, when he turned his attention 
to farming. Mr. Ladew was chosen a Justice of the 
Peace by the old Council of Appointment as early as 
1818 ; held the position of Post Master some twenty-five 
years ; and has been Supervisor, &c, at different 
periods of his life. He was originally a Democrat, of 
the '•* Bucktail " school ; then a Whig ; and now belongs 
to the Republican party. He was married in January, 
1813, and is an officer in the Dutch Reformed church. 
He is a very quiet and substantial man. 
12 



178 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JOHN A. LAING. 

Mr. Laing was born in 1820, in Boston, Erie county, 
N. Y. His father, who was of Scotch descent, and 
who died in 1822, removed into that county from New 
Jersey, in 1815. Mr. Laing received a common school 
education, and at the age of sixteen, went into Canada, 
where he spent a short time among his relatives. He 
then, in 1840, removed to Waterloo, Seneca county, N. 
Y. ; learned the carriage and ornamental painting ; and 
in 1852 took up his residence in Marion, Wayne county, 
where he now resides. He has held various town offices, 
and was elected to the present House by a majority of 
over seven hundred, receiving nearly every vote cast in 
his own town. He never took any very active part in 
politics till 1848, when he was found advocating Mr. 
Van Buren's claims to the Presidency, and is now 
thoroughly identified with the Republican movement. 
He is an uncompromising friend of the cause of tempe- 
rance, and cherishes extreme views on the subject of 
slavery. He stands well in the neighborhood where he 
resides, as a man of industry and integrity, and will 
doubtless prove himself faithful to the interests of his 
immediate constituency, and the entire State. Mr. L. 
was married in 1848 to Miss Julia, second daughter of 
Michael Marshall ; and is a strong believer in the chris- 
tian religion. 



WILLIAM C. LAMONT. 

Mr. Lamont is emphatically a representative of the 
masses, and is one of the most generous, whole-souled, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 179 

straight forward, intelligent, and independent members 
of the Legislature. He is a good looking, well-built 
man, with good nature, as well as firmness, in his face, 
and is altogether personable, not to say prepossessing. 
He is rather gay than grave in conversation ; freely 
gives and takes a quib ; and is social and fond of dis- 
cussion, yet does not seek to monopolize the talk. 

Mr. Lamont was born on the 25th of November, 
1827, in Charlotteville, Schoharie county, N. Y., where 
he now resides. He is the son of David Lamont, and 
is, as his name indicates, of French extraction. His 
great grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution, and 
after the close of the war, emigrated from Columbia 
county to Schoharie. He was educated at the Jefferson 
and Schoharie academies, and has been successfully 
engaged in the practice of the law since 1853. He 
never held any important public office till his election 
to the present House, but possesses qualities which befit 
him well for a representative position. He has always 
been a Democrat, having been carefully brought up in 
that political denomination, but does not cherish very 
strong party preferences. Mr. L. was married in 1852, 
to Miss E. Becker, and patronizes all religious creeds 
and churches. 



SAMUEL A. LAW. 

Mr. Law is a native of Delaware county, N. Y. ; is 
thirty-eight years of age, and resides in the same 
mansion in which he was born. He passed his collegiate 
life in Hamilton College ; studied law with the Hon. A. 
J. Parker, then of Delaware county, and completed his 
professional studies in the Law department of Yale 



180 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

College. Iii 1838, he accompanied an elder brother, 
then in had health, to southern Georgia, where, sur- 
rounded by the " peculiar institution," he fully informed 
himself of its effects upon the white and black races. 
He subsequently took a tour through the sea-board 
slave states, which confirmed the results of his previous 
observations, and returned home a confirmed oppo- 
nent, under constitutional restrictions, of the system of 
American slavery. 

In 1839, Mr. Law commenced the practice of the 
law, at Erie, Pa., where, in 1841, he married Miss Kate 
H., daughter of Samuel Hays, Esq. Owing to the 
declining health of his father, he abandoned his profes- 
sion, in 1843, and returning to Delaware county, 
became what he still continues to bo, a farmer. He has 
always taken a deep interest in the subject of agricul- 
ture ; was President of the Delaware County Agricul- 
tural society, from 1850 to 1855 ; has frequently been 
Clerk of his native town ; has been an acting Justice 
of the Peace during the past five years, and was a 
National Whig till the complete disorganization of that 
party, when he became a zealous American. During 
the last session of the Legislature, he was the acknow- 
ledged leader of the American party in the House. 
His urbanity and uniform gentlemanly deportment, won 
the esteem of his associates of all parties, and the 
ability he displayed attracted attention from all quarters 
of the State. He introduced the now famous "Un- 
claimed Deposit Bill," and supported it on the floor of 
the House in a speech of singular force and clearness. 
As a speaker, Mr. Law is peculiar. He is utterly 
devoid of ostentation. He never " puts on airs." His 
remarks are always directly to the point. He has not 
the unfortunate habit of delivering a dissertation on 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 181 

every subject, and, consequently, when he arises, he is 
listened to with attention. He is remarkably fluent, 
and has the happy faculty of expressing his ideas clearly, 
forcibly, and in the fewest words. There is always a 
stampede into the Assembly chamber from the rotunda, 
the clerk's room, and the lobby, when the word goes 
around : " Law is speaking." Aside from his excellent 
qualities as a legislator, he has within him the elements 
of personal popularity. There is no bitterness in his 
composition. He is genial, social, companionable, and 
without an enemy. Mr. Law is the only man in the 
Assembly who was elected purely as an American. His 
position, therefore, is as anomalous as it is. delicate. 
Nevertheless, he will no doubt prove himself alike 
faithful to those whom he represents, and the State at 
large. 



EDWARD ARTHUR LAWRENCE. 

Mr. Lawrence, the seventh son, and twelfth child of 
Judge Effingham Lawrence, of Flushing, L. I., by his 
wife, Anne, daughter of Solomon Townsend, of New 
York, was born at Bay Side, on the estate of his ances- 
tors, on the 3d of Nov. 1832. He is of unmixed Eng- 
lish descent, and his progenitors were, on both sides, 
among the earliest English settlers of this State. The 
names of his paternal and maternal ancestors, William 
Lawrence and John Townsend, are both to be found 
upon the original Patent of Flushing, granted by the 
Dutch Governor, Kieft, in 1645. 

Mr. Lawrence's father was first Judge of Queens 
county for many years. He was one of the earliest 
importers of Merino sheep ; and the first President of 



182 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the Queens County Agricultural Society. His acute 
perception, solid judgment, and well-balanced intellect, 
rendered him one of the first to seize, and one of the 
most earnest to develop, every improvement in both the 
science and the practice of agriculture. A frank, 
liberal, and hospitable country gentlemen he was, at 
the same time, eminently a practical farmer, and among 
the best and most prominent agriculturalists of the 
State of New York. It is generally conceded that 
the mantle of the father has worthily descended upon 
the shoulders of the member from Queens ; for the 
latter is Vice President of the County Agricultural 
Society, and has pursued his profession with such emi- 
nent success that more premiums have been awarded 
him, particularly for stock, than any other man in the 
county of Queens. 

If legislative position could be inherited, Mr. Law- 
rence might naturally claim his present seat. His 
maternal grandfather, Solomon Townsend, after serving 
as a member of the Assembly from the city of New 
York for six years, died in the harness, during the ses- 
sion of 1811. His great grandfather, Samuel Town- 
send, of Oyster Bay, was a member of the New York 
Provincial Congress, during the Revolution, and of the 
Convention that established the first Constitution of 
the State of New York, in 1777. Under this constitu- 
tion he was a member of the State Senate, from 1784 
till 1790, and one of the Council of Appointment in 
1789. He died, in office, in 1790. 

Mr. Lawrence has been three years Supervisor, his 
ability, fidelity, and integrity, having, during that 
period, uninterruptedly continued to him the suffrages of 
the people of Flushing. During the last session of the 
Legislature he gained universal confidence and esteem 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 183 

by his strict attention to business and straight-forward 
honesty of purpose, both on the floor of the House, and 
as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Internal 
Affairs of Towns and Counties, and a member of the 
Militia and Public Defense and other committees, and 
now these sentiments have been expanded into an affec- 
tionate regard, in all cases, where personal intercourse 
has made apparent his warm heart, cheerful temper, and 
frank, fearless, and unaffected good nature. He has 
always been a Democrat of the Hard Shell school ; was 
chosen to the last Assembly over two opponents by five 
hundred and eleven majority, and has now been re- 
elected by a majority of six hundred and twenty-five. 
Mr. L. married Hannah, daughter of the Hon. A. H. 
Mickle s of New York, formerly Mayor of that city, and 
is in every respect, a perfect type of the progressive age 
in which we live. 



ALFRED LOCKHART. 

Mr. Lockhart was born on the 15th of July, 1815, 
in Almond, Allegany county, N. Y. His father, who 
died in 1854, emigrated from the north of Ireland, 
in 1791, whither the family had fled from Scotland, 
during the religious wars of the seventeenth century. 
His mother, who is still living, is of Holland Protestant 
and Huguenot descent, and a daughter of Moses Van 
Campen, who served as major of a Pennsylvania 
rifle company during the Revolutionary struggle, and 
who was afterwards the hero of many renowned 
exploits during the border wars with the Indians. 
Mr. Lockhart received a good common English educa- 
tion, and in 1836 became a merchant's clerk in 



184 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Angelica, in his native county. Having filled this posi- 
tion a few years, he engaged in the mercantile business, 
on his own responsibility, and has been successfully 
engaged in it up to this time. He has been frequently, 
and is now, Supervisor in the town of Angelica, and from 
1842 until 1845, was Treasurer of Allegany county. 
He was formerly a Free Soil Whig, his first vote having 
been cast for William H. Seward for Governor, in 1838, 
and by his natural affinities was led into the Republican 
movement at the organization of that party. With but 
little experience as a public speaker he brings with him 
to the capitol a genuine taste for real oratory, and an 
honest desire to weigh all argument in the balance of 
truth and common sense. Mr. L. was married in 1842 
to Miss Sarah P. Crandall; and is a member and libe- 
ral supportor of the Presbyterian church. 



GEORGE F. LONGENHELT. 

Mr. Longenhelt is a native of Sharon, Schoharie 
county, N. Y., where he was born on the 22d of Febru- 
ary, 1824.' He is of German and English descent, and 
his father, George H. Longenhelt, died on the 25th of 
May, 1842, in the town of Hoseboom, Otsego county, 
where the subject of this sketch now resides. Mr. 
Longenhelt removed with his parents into that county 
about the year 1830 ; received a good common English 
education, and spent a short time at the Cherry Valley 
Academy. He is now engaged in farming, and has 
been an active Justice of the Peace since the 1st of 
January, 1856. He was always a Whig up to the fall 
of 1854, when he joined the American party, and was 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 



185 



elected to the present Assembly, as a Republican, by 
upwards of two hundred and fifty majority. He is well 
and favorably known throughout the section of State in 
which he lives, and brings with him to the discharge of 
his official duties a sound judgment, a clear, practical, 
mind, a scrupulous integrity, and the experience of a 
successful business man. He possesses fine social quali- 
fications, and enjoys a high degree of personal, as well 
as political popularity. Mr. L. was married on the 12th 
of November, 1850, to Miss Clarissa Ferguson, and is 
not partial to any particular branch of the church. 



EDWARD LOOMIS. 

Dr. Loomis is a native of Westmoreland, Oneida 
county, N. Y., and was born on the 8th of November, 
1806. He is of English descent, and the son of Eras- 
tus Loomis, who died in that place in 1844. Dr. 
Loomis was educated in a common school, and after 
graduating at the Fairfield Medical College, entered the 
medical profession, in which he has always since been a 
successful practitioner in his native place. He was 
Post Master under President Harrison, but upon the 
advent of Mr. Tyler to Executive power, was removed 
from the position, in consequence of his Free Soil pro- 
clivities. He made his first appearance in political life 
as an enthusiastic supporter of the Anti-Masonic cause, 
and was afterwards a Whig, till 1848, when he was 
active among the supporters of Mr. Van Buren for the 
Presidency. He took a prominent part in the organiz- 
ation of the Republican party in Oneida county, and was 
elected to the present House by over twelve hundred 



186 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

majority. He is a man of taste and culture ; has a 
sound judgment and strong common sense ; is well 
known for his firmness and decision of character ; and 
is a fluent and concise speaker. Dr. L. was married to 
his first wife, Miss Charlotte Buel, in 1831, and in 1843 
married his present lady, Miss A. Jane Meeker. He 
has been a member of the First Congregational church 
during the past twenty-five years. 



HARRISON A. LYON. 

This gentleman was born in 1815, in Clifton Park, 
Saratoga county, N. Y. He is of English and Scotch 
descent. Having received a common school education, 
in his native town, he entered the Collegiate Institute 
at Rochester. How long he remained there does not 
appear ; nevertheless, in a short time, we find him in a 
dry-good store in that city. He remained in this busi- 
ness up to 1845, when, on account of failing health, he 
made a trip to Europe. Though a very worthy and 
respectable gentleman, Mr. Lyon is not particularly dis- 
tinguished among his fellow-citizens. This is the first 
time he has emerged from the comparative obscurity in 
which he has hitherto passed his life, to take part in 
legislative affairs. Though not one of those calculated 
to make a display of statesmanship, he will no doubt rep- 
resent his constituents with honest intentions, and to 
the very best of his ability. Unlike most of those who 
now belong to the Republican party, he claims to have 
been formerly a Henry Clay Whig. He cherishes some 
political aspirations, but even though he had the ability, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 187 

ne is too easily influenced by unscrupulous leaders and 
political demagogues, to become a leader himself. 

" The seals of office glitter in his eyes; 

He climbs, he pants, he grasps them ; at his heels, 

Close at his heels, a demagogue ascends; 

And, with a dextrous jerk, soon twists him down." 



LYMAN R. LYON. 

Mr. Lyon was born in 1806, in Ontario, Ontario 
county, now Walworth, Wayne county, N. Y. He is 
of English and French extraction, and is the oldest son 
of the late Caleb Lyon, of Lyonsdale, who was a native 
of East Windsor, Conn., and whose parents removed to 
Massachusetts when he was a youth. About the year 
1800, he went to Ontario county, where he resided till 
1819, when he removed into Lewis county, where he 
died in 1835, at the age of sixty-four. 

After receiving a thorough common school education, 
Mr. Lyon was placed under the instruction of the Rev. 
John Sherman, at Trenton, Oneida county, and subse- 
quently completed his course at the Lowville Academy, in 
Lewis county. His father, who was the owner of an exten- 
sive tract of land, and agent for some foreign land holders, 
designed him for a surveyor, but having acquired the 
art, and made some special surveys, he abandoned the 
position professionally, preferring employments requiring 
greater energy and more action. His favorite occupa- 
tion, however, is farming. He now owns a fine, large 
farm, on the east bank of Black river, at Lyons Falls, 
which he has reclaimed from the wilderness, during the 
past ten years, and is sole proprietor of a steamboat, 



188 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

plying between Carthage and that place, which he con- 
structed with the view of the more speedily developing 
the northern portions of Jefferson county. He, also, 
owns several canal boats, which run in connection with 
his steamer, and is engaged in the manufacture of lum- 
ber, and the sale and settlement of an extensive tract 
of wild land. He was a deputy Clerk in the Assembly 
from 1830 till 1835, when he entered into several con- 
tracts with the General government for the improve- 
ment of the Hudson river, the harbor at Whitehall, on 
Lake Champlain, the harbor at Erie, Penn., and the 
improvement of the river Raisin, from Monroe city, 
Michigan, to Lake Erie. Meanwhile, he was, also, 
engaged in the fulfillment of similar contracts with the 
Canadian government, and with the State of Illinois, 
where he removed the bars in the Illinois river for some 
two hundred miles, and constructed a commodious har- 
bor at La Salle, the point of intersection with the Illi- 
nois and Michigan canal. Notwithstanding the financial 
pressure of the times, he faithfully fulfilled all these 
engagements. 

Mr. Lyons was Cashier of the Lewis county bank 
some four years ; was subsequently County Treasurer 
several years ; has, at various times, been Supervisor 
of his town ; and was always a Democrat till the passage 
of the Kansas-Nebraska act, since which time he has 
been a Republican. He is a man of sound judgment, 
vigorous intellect, indomitable perseverance, and scru- 
pulous integrity. He was married in 1839, to Miss 
Mary B. Northup, of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess county, 
and belongs to the Presbyterian church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 189 



JAMES MACKIN. 

Mr. Mackin is a young man of fine address and pre 
possessing appearance, and discharges the duties with 
which his constituents have entrusted him, in a manner 
that will be, at once, alike creditable to them and him- 
self. He is a lineal descendant of genuine Irish stock, 
and having been left alone in the world, at an early 
age, by the death of his parents, with two brothers 
and a sister, wholly dependent upon themselves for 
a support, is necessarily one of those practical, sub- 
stantial, self-made men of whom our country may well 
feel proud. 

Mr. Mackin was born on the 25th of December, 1822, 
at Newburgh, Orange county, N. Y. He was educated 
in a common school at Fishkill, Dutchess county, where 
he has passed the greater portion of his life, and where 
he is now a successful merchant and real estate agent. 
He was appointed Post Master at that place, under the 
Administration of Gen. Taylor, and occupied the posi- 
tion some four years. In 1857 he was elected Supervi- 
sor, and again in 1858, and is now Chairman of the 
Board. He was always an active and influential Whig, 
of the Free Soil stamp, till 1855, when he was a dele 
gate to the Convention at which the Kepublican party 
was formed, and since which time he has been a zealous 
supporter of that organization. He possesses superior 
qualifications for a legislative position, and in both 
public and private life, enjoys a high degree of popu- 
larity wherever he is known. He was married in July, 
1858, to Miss Sarah E. Wiltse, a very intelligent and 
accomplished lady, and a daughter of James Wiltse, one 
of the oldest and most respectable inhabitants of Fish- 



190 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

kill. He attends the Dutch Reformed church, of which 
his wife is a member. 



JAMES McLEOD. 

Mr. McLeod is a native of the county of Derry, 
Ireland, where he was born in 1824, and where his 
parents are still living. He received a common school 
education in his native place, and came to the United 
States in 1841. On his arrival at New York, he be- 
came a clerk in the grocery business in that city, and 
after serving some nine months in that capacity, became 
a partner in the establishment in which he was engaged. 
Subsequently he served his time as a mason, in which 
trade he has since been chiefly occupied. In 1855 Mr. 
McLeod was appointed a Clerk of the Police Court, in 
the city of New York, by Mayor Wood, and successfully 
occupied the position some two years. In December, 
1857, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Alderman, 
and in the following fall was elected to the present 
House by upwards of six hundred majority — the largest 
majority ever given in that district for any candidate. 
He has always been an active and somewhat influential 
politician, and a firm believer in the principles and 
measures of the Hard Shell Democracy. He is a man 
of good address, combining courtesy and affability with 
dignity and firmness, and enjoys much more than ordi- 
nary popularity in the private and political circles in 
which he moves. Mr. McLeod was married in 1845 to 
Mrs. Horton, originally from Dutchess county, and is 
a member of the Roman Catholic church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 191 



AUGUSTUS R. MACOMBER. 

Mr. Macomber was born in Middleburg, Schoharie 
county, N. Y., in 1832, and when about two years of 
age, removed, with 'his parents, to Windham Centre, 
G-reene county, where he has always since resided. His 
parents, who are still living, removed to Brooklyn, about 
four years ago, where they now reside. Mr. Macomber 
attended school at Franklin, Delaware county, and com- 
pleted his legal studies at Windham Centre, where he 
is now engaged in the practice of his profession. He is 
a Democrat of the Buchanan school, and was elected to 
his present position by upwards of four hundred major- 
ity. He is frank, straight-forward, and congenial in his 
intercourse with his personal and political friends, and 
possesses the elements of much more than ordinary pop- 
ularity. He discharges his duties quietly and to the 
best of his ability, and will doubtless subserve faithfully 
and intelligently the best interests of his constituents, 
and the State. There is nothing of the " old fogy" in 
his composition, being emphatically a representative of 
Young America, and he is eminently progressive in all 
his views of state and national policy. 



JAMES H. MALLERY. 

Mr. Mallery is a son of Henry Mallery, who died in 
1855, in Illinois, and who was a plain but substantial 
farmer, for many years, at "Yankee Hill," opposite 
Amsterdam, Montgomery county, N. Y., to which place 



192 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

he emigrated from Vermont as early as 1795. In early 
days, when almost every other house in the Mohawk 
Valley was a tavern, his was for a long time well known 
as the most excellent place of entertainment in that 
section of the State, the business being quite advanta- 
geously connected with his farming operations. But in 
course of time, the construction of the Mohawk turn- 
pike on the north side of the river, and the completion 
of the Erie canal, destroyed his tavern trade, and he 
subsequently confined himself chiefly to farming. 

Mr. Mallery was born in 1814, in Florida, Mont- 
gomery county, N. Y., and is of Puritan descent. He 
was brought up on his father's farm, receiving mean- 
while a limited common school education, and at the 
age of sixteen became a clerk in a country store, where 
he was occupied some four or five years. He then 
became the clerk of Col. Hamilton, Canal Superintendent 
on the Albany section, with whom he remained till 
1838, when he married Miss Mary Jane Ryker, of New 
York city, and engaged in contracting. In this occu- 
pation he was successfully engaged till the suspension 
of 1842, when he removed to Illinois, where he engaged 
in farming some two or three years, and then returned 
to this State, and again engaged in contracting. He 
afterwards entered the furnace and machinery business 
in Newburgh, Orange county, where he now resides. 
Mr. Mallery has been uniformly a decided and ardent 
Democrat, but was never a candidate before the people, 
until his election to the position he now occupies. That 
he is very popular, is clearly attested by the flattering 
vote of his district, which last year returned a Repub- 
lican, and now gives him nearly nine hundred majority. 
He is observing, and well informed on all matters likely 
to engage the attention of the Legislature, and is a man 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 193 

of unquestionable integrity and firmness. He is exem- 
plary in his general character, and a regular attendant 
of the Episcopal church. 



PETER MASTERSON. 

Mr. Masterson was born in the city of New York, 
in 1829, and is, therefore, one of the youngest mem- 
bers in the House. He is of Irish descent, and his 
parents came to America about thirty-five years ago. 
They first settled in Canada, and afterwards lived some 
two or three years where the City Hall now stands, in the 
city of Albany. His father, Peter Masterson, died in 
1852, and his mother is still living, in the seventieth 
year of her age. Mr. Masterson received an ordinary 
English education, and was chiefly engaged as a con- 
tractor till 1853, when he was chosen Inspector in the 
Custom House, in his native city. This position he 
occupied during the Collectorship of Judge Bronson, 
with whom he went out of office, till the appointment 
of the Hon. Augustus Schell, when he was reinstated, 
holding the position again until his election to the 
present House. He has always been an active fire- 
man, having organized the engine company " Black 
Joke," No. 33, of which he has been for some years 
foreman, and two years ago was conspicuous in the elec- 
tion of Harry Howard, as Chief Engineer of the depart- 
ment. He is an active Democrat, of the Buchanan 
school ; was for several years a member of the Young 
Men's Democratic General Committee: and now belongs 
to the Tammany Hall G eneral Committee. He is a young 
man of much more than ordinary personal popularity, 
13 



194 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and will doubtless prove himself faithful to the interests 
of his constituents. Mr. Masterson was married in 
1848, to Miss Mary S. Quinn, and belongs to the 
Catholic church. 






ROBERT L. MEEKS. 

Mr. Meeks was born on the 29th of November, 1824, 
in the city of New York, and is a grandson of Capt. 
John Meeks, who, with his brother, Col. Edward Meeks, 
served as an officer during the Revolution. His ances- 
tors came to America about the middle of the sixteenth 
century, and his paternal grandmother was the daugh- 
ter of the Rev. Mr. Monliuer, a French Huguenot minis- 
ter, who preached in the old church, on Pine street, in 
the city of New York. On his paternal side, he is of 
English descent, and his father, Charles Meeks. died 
some years ago. Mr. Meeks received an academical 
education ; has always been a merchant, and is now 
doing business in his native city. He never held any 
public position, previous to his election to the present 
House, save that of Trustee of the village of Jamaica, 
where he now resides, in which position he served as the 
successor of Gov. King. He was formerly a Whig, and 
owes his promotion to his present position to a combi- 
nation of the American and Republican vote in his dis- 
trict, which gave him a majority of about one hundred 
over the Hon. John S. Hendrickson, his predecessor in 
the Assembly. He is a very active, shrewd business 
man, and is admirably qualified for a legislative position. 
Mr. Meeks is still single, and is a regular attendant 
upon the services of the old school Presbyterian church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 195 



ISAAC D MEKEEL. 

Mr. Mekeel is one of the most substantial men in 
either branch of the Legislature, and the good, sound 
common sense of his Quaker education and principles, 
distinguishes all his private and political actions. He 
is a large, healthy, companionable looking man, listening 
with pleased attention to a good story, and bartering 
back another quite as good in return, and would be a 
capital fellow to sit opposite to in a railway carriage 
from Albany to Buffalo, with his remarks on men and 
things. 

Mr. Mekeel was born in 1822, in the town of Hector, 
Tompkins county, N. Y. His father, Joshua Mekeel, 
who is a native of Westchester county, removed into 
Tompkins county about forty years ago, and settled in 
the same town where he now resides. His wife, the 
mother of the subject of this sketch, was a native of 
Putnam county, and died about thirteen years ago. 
Mr. Mekeel received a common school education, 
and has always been a practical, successful farmer. 
Although more of a business man than a politician he 
has held the office of Supervisor in the town where he 
resides, and was elected to his present position by the 
unusually large majority of upwards of nineteen hundred. 
He was formerly a Whig, and at the disorganization of 
that party became a Republican, although regarding 
favorably some of the main features in the American 
platform. He was married in 1850 to Miss Maria 
Dimon, and attends the Quaker church. Few men in 
the House will discharge their duties more quietly and 
faithfully than the honorable member from Schuyler. 



196 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ABRAHAM MESSEROLE. Jr. 

Mr. Messerole is a young man of fine personal appear- 
ance, and discharges his legislative duties with the will 
and the determination to subserve the interests of his 
immediate constituents and the State, to the very best 
of his ability. He was born in the city of New York, 
in 1821, and is of Huguenot and Dutch descent. His 
ancestors came to America as early as 1623, and were 
among the first settlers on Long Island. His father is 
now a retired merchant, and his mother died in 1831, 
at the age of forty-two. Mr. Messerole was educated 
at the University of the city of New York, and this is 
his first appearance in the political arena. He was 
elected to his present position by a combination of 
Americans and Republicans, and is the only anti-Demo- 
cratic candidate that has been successful in his district 
during the past five years. He was married in 1855 to 
Miss Lydia Holt; attends the Dutch Reformed church ; 
and has within him the elements of great personal pop- 
ularity. He makes no pretensions as a speaker, but will 
prove himself quite as servicable in his new position by 
a quiet, straight-forward, and consistent course, as if he 
were to follow the example of some of his compeers, 
who are constantly inflicting the severest punishment 
upon the House, by indulging in useless and almost end- 
less speech-making. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 197 



HENRY B. MILLER. 

Mr. Miller, was born on the 16th day of April, 
1819, in Lebanon county, Penn. His ancestors were 
Germans, and came to this country about the middle of 
the last century, during the prevalence of the religious 
wars, at that time, devastating that portion of Europe. 
At the time of his birth, his native State had not yet 
inaugurated her liberal school system, and the only 
advantages of education were to be obtained in very 
inferior country schools. At the age of fourteen, he 
entered a printing office, at the seat of his native 
county, where he remained till 1836, when he emigra- 
ted to the north-western part of Indiana. In 1839 he 
established the Niles B.epublica?i t as a Whig paper, 
and assisted in the organization of the Whig party in 
the State of Michigan, which party triumphed at that 
and the two subsequent elections. Having disposed of 
his paper in Niles, in 1844, he procured a new office, 
and in September of that year, issued the first number 
of the Michigan Telegraph, in Kalamazoo, which was 
devoted to the claims of Henry Clay to the Presidency. 
The result of that election and the policy of the oppo- 
sition in crushing out all Whig papers in that State, 
induced him to dispose of his establishment, which he 
did in 1845. 

In the fall of 1845, Mr. Miller became a resident of 
the city of Buffalo, and being conversant with the Ger- 
man language, established the Buffalo Telegraphy a 
German paper, which, with the exception of some local 
papers in Pennsylvania, was the only German Whig 
paper in the United States. This paper, which he pub- 
lished until about three years ago, nearly revolution- 



198 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

ized the German vote of Western New York, in the 
Presidential campaign of 1848. In 1849 he was 
appointed "Superintendent and Inspector of Lights on 
the North-western Lakes," which position he success- 
fully occupied until removed by the subsequent Admin, 
istration, when he disposed of his printing establish- 
ment and engaged, in 1853, in the construction of a 
telegraph from Quebec to Montreal. He then resumed 
the publication of his paper till 1855, since which time 
he has been extensively engaged in contracting. He 
is a man of energy, industry, and perseverance, and 
was elected as the Union candidate in his district by a 
majority of fifteen hundred. Mr. M. was married about 
seventeen years ago, and attends the Baptist church. 



MARQUIS D. MOORE. 

Mr. Moore is a native of the town of Chesterfield, 
Essex county, N. Y., and is of English and French 
descent. His father, Marquis D. Moore, died in that 
town in 1812, and at the age of thirteen, was left an 
orphan, by the death of his mother. He subsequently 
received a limited education, at the hands of two elder 
sisters, and has always since been a successful business 
man, being now engaged in elastic roofing, and the 
manufacture of chemical oil. He is an active and 
influential politician, frequently representing his ward 
or district in State and county conventions, and was 
elected to the present House as a Union candidate, by a 
majority of five hundred, although acting exclusively 
with the Republicans, since the meeting of the Legis- 
lature. He was formerly a Whig, adhering closely to 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 199 

that party till it abandoned its organization, when he 
became a staunch and zealous American. He possesses 
some ability as a speaker, and will doubtless make him- 
self heard on the floor of the House before the close of 
the session. Mr. Moore was married in 1835, to Miss 
Jane E. Lester, of Albany county, who is now dead, 
and in 1849 married Miss Jane E. Howard, of Saratoga 
county. He attends the Presbyterian church, and stands 
well in the community where he resides. 



DANIEL MORRIS. 

Mr. Morris was born on the 4th of January, 1812, 
in Fayette, Seneca county, N. Y. He is of English 
descent, and his grand parents were born and educated 
in the city of London. His father, Joseph Morris, who 
was a native of Morris county, N. J., and who died in 
Michigan in 1846, was a commissioned officer in the 
war of 1812, and was a man of courage and sterling 
common sense. Mr. Morris was raised on his father's 
farm till he was twenty-one years of age, receiving, in 
the mean time, an ordinary common schooling and, in 
1837, completed his education at the Canandaigua Acad- 
emy, in Ontario county. He subsequently read law in 
that county, and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme 
Court at Albany, in January 1845, since which time he 
has been successfully engaged in practice at Rushville, 
Yates county, where he now resides. He occupies a 
high rank as lawyer, being now an attorney and counsellor 
in the Supreme Court of the United States, and at the first 
election under the new constitution was elected District 
Attorney of Yates county, which position he filled some 



200 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

three years. He was formerly a Democrat of the Free 
Soil school, and subsequently joined the Republicans at 
the organization of that party, He has always been a 
zealous and efficient politician, frequently taking the 
stump in behalf of the principles and candidates of his 
party, and comes to the Assembly by a majority of over 
eleven hundred. Mr. Morris was married in Wayne 
county in 1845, to Miss Lucy, eldest daughter of Hiram 
Torrey, Esq., a lady of rare female excellency, and usu- 
ally attends the Congregational church. He is one of the 
leading Republicans of the House. 



ELBRIDGE G. MOULTON. 

Mr. Moulton was born on the 23d of August, 1812, 
in Alexander, Genesee county, N. Y., and is now the 
oldest native born resident of that town. He is of 
Scotch descent, and springs from genuine Revolutionary 
stock. His father, Royal Moulton, is still living, at 
the advanced age of eighty-seven, and his mother died 
in 1842, at the age of sixty-two. Mr. Moulton was 
educated in a common school, and at the age of twenty- 
one, engaged in the dry goods business, which he fol- 
lowed till 1853, since which time he has been chiefly 
engaged in farming. He has occupied various town 
offices in his native place, including Supervisor, three 
years, and was Post Master from 1849 till 1853. 
Although liberal in his political views, he is a strong 
party man, and was elected to his present position in 
the House by the largest majority ever before given for 
any candidate in the district which he represents. He 
was a Whig until the inauguration of the Republican 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 201 

enterprise, when he became a member of that party. 
He is a sociable, friendly, and agreeable man, and dis- 
charges the duties of his office with honor to himself, 
and credit to his constituents. Mr. Moulton married 
his present wife, Miss Mary Warren, in 1849, and 
attends the Universalist church. 



JAMES M. NORTHUP. 

Mr. Northup was born in Plattsburgh, Clinton county, 
N. Y., in 1820. He is of English and Dutch descent. 
At the age of eight years, his parents removed, with 
him, into Washington county, where he has ever since 
resided. He received a common school education, and 
early in life commenced the labors of a farmer. This 
pursuit he followed until 1844, when he abandoned, in 
a great measure, his agricultural pursuits, and engaged 
in business as a produce dealer. His operations in that 
-line have been upon a large scale. Especially in the 
purchase and sale of potatoes, has he far outstripped all 
competition. Since 1844, he has shipped, principally 
from Washington county to New York, over two mil- 
lions of bushels. His enterprise has been attended with 
remarkable success, resulting in a competency to him- 
self, and profit to the farmers in his section of country. 
Although absorbed in his extensive business, Mr. Nor- 
thup has not been wholly indifferent to politics. He 
was formerly a Henry Clay Whig, and upon the disso- 
lution of that party, became a Republican, though 
regarding favorably the American platform. He has 
been several times elected to the office of Supervisor, 
and last fall defeated a combination of all parties 



202 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

arrayed against the Republicans. He is indebted to 
his own personal popularity for his election. Mr. Nor- 
thup is a man of fine appearance — one who attracts 
the attention of strangers, as he sits among his peers 
in the Assembly chamber. He is, in every sense of the 
term, a self made man, and a history of his life demon- 
strates the fact, that industry and integrity, in a country 
like this, are certain to meet their reward. 



GEORGE OPDYKE. 

Mr. Opdyke is a native of Hunterdon county, N. J., 
and is about fifty years of age. He is descended from 
good, old Knickerbocker stock, and one of his ancestors 
was among the very first settlers of New Amsterdam. 
He removed to the city of New York, about thirty 
years ago, where he has always since been engaged in 
business, although his residence, during a portion of 
the time, has been in his native State. He never held 
any public position prior to his election to the present 
House, and was a Democrat till 1848, when he joined 
the Free Soil party as a friend of Mr. Van Buren, and was 
one of the committee of seven who framed the celebrated 
Buffalo platform. He was an unsuccessful candidate in 
that year for a seat in Congress, and in 1856, ran unsuc- 
cessfully for the position he now occupies. Though not 
liberally educated, Mr. Opdyke has devoted most of his 
leisure time to literary pursuits and scientific investi- 
gations, and in 1851 published a work on political 
enconomy, being, also, a member of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, the New 
Jersey Historical Society, the New York Historical 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 203 

Society, and the Chamber of Commerce in the city of 
New York. He is a man of ability and influence, and 
is one of the shrewdest and most active members in the 
House. 



GRANT B. PALMER. 

Mr. Palmer was born on the 23d of November, 1801, 
in Columbus, Chenango county, N. Y., where he still 
resides. His father, Elijah Palmer, who was of English 
descent, and who died in 1824, in the sixty-eighth year 
of his age, was a native of Stonington, Conn., and a 
privateer in the Revolution. During his services, he 
was taken as a prisoner to the island of Bermuda. He 
was subsequently released, and after the declaration of 
peace, emigrated to Chenango county, which was then a 
dense, uncultivated forest, inhabited only by the red 
man and wild beast, with here and there an occasional 
white settler. 

Mr. Palmer was educated in a small log school house 
on the banks of the Unadilla river in his native county, 
and during the past twenty five years has been engaged 
in farming, dealing in stock, and raising hops. He was 
appointed Post Master where he now resides, under the 
administration of Mr. Van Buren ; was removed under 
the administration of Gen. Harrison; and was rein- 
stated' upon the advent of President Polk to power. 
After the election of Gen. Taylor he was again removed, 
and once more reinstated under the administration of 
President Pierce. He has held the position of Deputy 
Sheriff in his county some twelve years, and has always 
been a Democrat of the old fashioned Andrew Jackson 
stamp. Mr. P. was married on the 6th of March, 1823, 



204 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

to Miss Aimis Smith, of Brookfield, Conn. ; and belongs 
to no religious denomination, professing the most perfect 
freedom in all matters of a religious character. He is 
a man of high respectability in the community where he 
resides, and discharges the duties of his position intelli- 
gently, industriously, and with scrupulous fidelity to the 
best interests of the great mass of the people of the 
State. 



SIDNEY E. PALMER. 

Mr. Palmer is a native of Columbus, Chenango 
county, N. Y., where he was born in 1811, and is a 
brother of the Hon. Grant B. Palmer, the able repre- 
sentative in the House from that county. He received 
a common school education, and at the age of sixteen 
was apprenticed to the mason business. His health 
failing, when about twenty-two years of age, he engaged 
in the mercantile trade at Eagle Harbor, Orleans 
county, where he Remained about two years. He then 
removed into the town of Gerry, Chautauque county, 
where he now resides, and where he has always since 
been chiefly employed in mercantile pursuits. Mr. 
Palmer held the position of Fourth Corporal in the 
militia when only sixteen years of age, and about six 
years afterwards resigned the office of Lieut. Colonel, 
receiving an honorable dismission from Gen. Welch, 
of Chenango county. He was one year a Justice of 
the Peace in Orleans county ; has held the position of 
Post Master seventeen years where he now resides ; and 
has been two years Supervisor. He was formerly a 
Whig, and after the dissolution of that party, acted 
with the Americans until they went into National Con- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 205 

vention with the South, when he became a Republican. 
He is one of the most popular men in Chautauque 
county, and received every vote, save nine, in the town 
where he resides, at his election to the present Assem- 
bly. Mr. Palmer was married, at the age of twenty- 
six, to Miss Hannah P. Spurr, of Chenango county, 
and attends the Universalist church. 



MARTIN L. PARLIN. 

Mr. Parlin is one of the most active and thoroug- 
going politicians in Franklin county, and is one of the most 
quiet, industrious, and efficient members of the House. 
He is of English descent, and was born in 1802 in 
Bennington, Vt. His ancestors came to this country 
about the beginning of the last century, and settled in 
Massachusetts. His father, Lemuel Parlin, who 
removed to Malone, Franklin county, when Martin was 
about two years of age, died in 1854, and his wife, the 
mother of the subject of this sketch, is still living, at 
the age of seventy-six. Mr. Parlin was educated in a 
common school ; taught some, while a young man ; and 
has always since been principally engaged in farming. 
He was Surrogate of his county about five years, previ- 
ous to the adoption of the constitution of 1846 ; was 
Supervisor in 1836 ; and cast his first Presidential vote 
for John Quincy Adams. He supported Mr. Van 
Buren for the Presidency in 1836, and again in '48, and 
has been a zealous Republican since 1856, when he sup- 
ported the election of CoL Fremont, although still 
regarding himself a Democrat in the true sense of the 



206 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

term. Mr. Parlin was married in 1829, in Worcester 
county, Mass., to Miss Minerva Carruth, and belongs to 
the Universalist Church. 



WM. W. PAYNE. 

Mr. Payne was born on the 22d of January, 1814, at 
Hamilton, Madison county, N. Y. His ancestors were 
English, and among the first settlers of New England. 
He is a lineal descendant of Robert Payne, who inter- 
married with a Pilgrim family by the name of Treat, 
and whose son, Robert Treat Payne, was one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence in behalf of 
the old Bay State. His paternal grand-uncle was the 
noted Judge Ephraim Payne, of Dutchess county, a 
member of the State convention which abolished Slavery 
in this State, and his grand-father, Abraham Payne, 
who, when Tom Paine published his " Age of Reason," 
omitted the " i " in his name, was a successful Congre- 
gational minister. He is the son of Judge Elisha 
Payne, who was one of the first settlers in Chenango 
Valley, and who died in 1843, and is a younger brother 
of the Hon. H. B. Payne, of Ohio, who was the unsuc- 
cessful candidate for Governor of that State in 1857. 

Mr. Payne was educated at the Hamilton Academy, 
and taught during the winter until 1832, when his 
health failing, he engaged in the mercantile trade, which 
he abandoned about a year afterwards. He then trav- 
eled through the Western and South- Western States, 
and resided, temporarily, in St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., 
and in Kaskaskia, 111. After spending some time, in 
1835, in Texas, he went to Red river, Louisiana, where 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 207 

he resumed his mercantile pursuits, which he fol- 
lowed successfully till 1840, when he returned to his 
native State, and since which time he has been employed 
in the cultivation of his farm near Auburn. He was 
formerly a Whig, but was elected as the Republican 
candidate, to his present position, by over one thousand 
majority. Mr. P. was married in 1840 to Miss B. S. 
Sears, of Auburn, and is a member of the Baptist 
church. He is an intelligent and industrious representa- 
tive, and is strongly opposed to the enactment of a 
Registry Law. 



EDWIN A. PELTON. 

Mr. Pelton was born in Portland, Conn., in 1816, 
He is of French descent, and his father, Samuel Pelton, 
is still living. He received a common school education ; 
came to this State in 1839, and engaged in the hard- 
ware business at Cold Spring, Putnam county, where he 
has since resided. Mr. Pelton has always enjoyed a 
well deserved popularity in the section of the State 
where he lives, having been several times elected Super- 
visor, although residing in one of the strongest Demo- 
cratic towns in the State. In 1857 he was chosen 
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He has held 
many other places of trust, and has always proved him- 
self faithful to the public interest. In politics he was 
formerly a Whig, and is now a Republican. Though 
not a fluent speaker, he is fully able to successfully 
vindicate his principles, and to represent the interests of 
his constituents. Mr. Pelton was married to his very 
excellent wife, Miss Almira Clark, of Hartford, in 1839, 
and attends the Baptist ohurch. 



208 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ELISHA PENDELL. 

Mr. Pendell sprung from good, substantial Revolu- 
tionary stock, and was born in 1808, in the then 
town of Athol, Warren county, N. Y. He is of Eng- 
lish and Welch descent, and his parents, who were born 
in Connecticut, settled in that county when quite 
young. His father died in 1830, and his mother is still 
living at an advanced age. Mr. Pendell was educated 
in a common school, and was brought up on his father's 
farm. He was elected a Justice of the Peace in 1832, 
and held the position twenty-two years. Meanwhile, he 
was engaged in surveying and farming, in which he was 
eminently successful. He has held various town offices, 
including that of Supervisor three years ; and was for 
some eight years a Justice of the Court of Sessions in 
his native county. Although liberal in his views he is 
a strict partizan, and was always a Democrat till that 
party endorsed Mr. Pierce's administration, when he 
became a Republican. He is a fair-minded, well-mean- 
ing man, with a high-toned moral feeling, and although 
quiet and unostentatious in his movements, will no 
doubt discharge the duties of his new position faith- 
fully, honestly, and to the best of his ability. Mr. 
Pendell was married in 1840, to Miss Aruba Frost, and 
belongs to the Methodist church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 209 



ALPHONSO PERRY. 

Dr. Perry was born on the 26th of March, 1806, in 
Stephentown, Rensselaer county, N. Y., and is a descen- 
dent of those who left the land of persecution, 

" When first the lonely Mayflower threw 
Her canvas to the breeze, 
To bear afar her Pilgrim crew 
Beyond the dark blue seas." 

His father, who died in 1848, in Clarkson, Monroe 
county, where the subject of this sketch now resides, 
was a native of Rhode Island, and his mother, who is 
still living, at the age of seventy, was born in Stephen- 
town. Dr. Perry removed, with his parents, into Mon- 
roe county, in 1822 ; received an academical education ; 
and studied medicine with Dr. Mclntyre, at Palmyra, 
with whom he remained eighteen months, after which 
he graduated, in 1830, from the college of Physicians 
and Surgeons, in the city of New York. He was then 
married, in the same year, to Miss Marietta Piatt, and 
at once entered upon the practice of his profession, 
which he pursued till 1845, when he turned his attention 
to farming. He has filled numerous town offices where 
he resides ; was Supervisor in 1844 ; and has been 
elected to the Assembly by a majority of over one 
thousand. His first vote was cast for Old Hickory, in 
1828, and he was always a fearless, unswerving Demo- 
crat, till 1848, when he enlisted under the standard of 
Mr. Van Buren. He attends the Presbyterian church, 
and is strongly in favor of the enactment of a stringent 
prohibatory liquor law. 

14 






210 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



LEWIS W. PIERCE. 

Mr. Pierce was born on the 10th of November, 1810, 
in Jackson, Washington county, N. Y. He is of Eng- 
lish descent. His father, Earl Pierce, died in 1836, in 
Ausable, Clinton county, where his mother is still living. 
He removed, with his parents, to that place, in 1821 ; 
was educated at the Keesville and Portland academies ; 
and in 1831, went to Jay, Essex county, where he 
engaged in the sale of goods, in connection with the 
manufacture of iron. On the death of his father, he 
returned to Ausable, and was the acting administrator 
of his estate, he having been extensively engaged in 
farming, mercantile pursuits, and the manufacture of 
lumber and iron. In 1849, he disposed of all his busi- 
ness enterprises, and removed to Plattsburgh, where he 
now resides. Mr. Pierce held, almost continuously, 
some town office, from 1833 to 1850 ; was deputy Col- 
lector of Customs, and Clerk in the Custom House, at 
Plattsburgh, from 1851 till 1854; and in the fall of 
1853 was chosen County Clerk of Clinton county, which 
position he occupied three years. He claims to have 
been formerly a Henry Clay Whig, and is now a 
Republican, although elected to his present position by 
a combination of Americans and Republicans. He is a 
man of fine business capacity, and discharges his duties 
with an industry and promptness that commend him 
alike to his constituents and his legislative associates.' 
Mr. P. was married, in 1834, to Miss Perley H., 
daughter of the Hon. Reuben Sanford ; and is an elder 
in the Presbyterian church. He is a staunch friend of 
Temperance and Education. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 211 



JOHN T. PLATO. 

Mr. Plato was born in Canajoharie, Montgomery 
county, N. Y., in 1828, and is of English and Dutch 
descent. He is the son of the Rev. Thomas Plato, 
who is now an officiating clergyman in Canada West, 
where he has resided during the past ten years. His 
parents were both natives of Montgomery county, and 
his ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the 
Mohawk valley. "When only four years of age, Mr. 
Plato removed, with his parents, into Otsego county, 
where they lived until going to Canada. He received 
simply a common school education, and at the age of six- 
teen commenced an apprenticeship at the Harness^mak- 
ing trade, in which he has always since been engaged. 
He removed into Jasper, Steuben county, where he 
now resides, in 1850, and began business for himself. 
He was formerly a member of the Whig party, and 
was elected to his present office by about four hundred 
and fifty majority. He has been quite an active and 
influential politician in the town where he resides, and 
has successfully served four years as a Justice of the 
Peace. Mr. Plato is one of the most quiet, and unpre- 
tending men in the House, seldom participating in any 
of its discussions, but discharges his legislative duties in 
a far more commendable manner — intelligently, indus- 
triously, and faithfully to the interests of his constituents. 
He is still single, and enjoys a high degree of personal 
popularity. 



212 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ELIAS POND. 

" Whence his name 

And lineage long, I own I cannot say; 

Suffice it that, perchance, they were of fame, 
And had been glorious in an other day." 

Mr. Pond is a banker of some financial ability, doing 
a small business in the city of Rochester, and is the 
successor in the Assembly of the Hon. Thomas Par- 
sons, one of the most substantial and industrious men in 
the last House. He is a Republican of the strictest sect, 
practicing the most implicit obedience to the behests of 
his party leaders, and was elected to his present posi- 
tion by nearly five hundred majority. He is a man of 
som« personal popularity in the city where he resides, 
but is indebted almost entirely to the strength of the 
Republican party in his district for his election. He 
brings with him to the discharge of his duties the expe- 
rience of a somewhat successful business man, and 
although perfectly unsophisticated, in the forms and 
ceremonies of legislation, will no doubt make a despe- 
rate effort to subserve his constituents to the best of his 
ability. 



SHOTWELL POWELL. 

Mr. Powell was born in 1818, in the town of Cinton, 
Dutchess county, N. Y., and is of Welch descent. His 
father, James Powell, was born in New Jersey, and his 
mother was a native of Westchester county, N. Y. Both 
his parents are now dead. Mr. Powell received a com. 
mon school education, and has always been successfully 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 213 

engaged in farming. He removed from Dutchess county 
in 1844, to South Bristol, Ontario county, where he has 
always since been a prominent and influential resident. 
He has held various town offices, and was elected to the 
Legislature by over five hundred majority. He was 
formerly a Democrat till 1840, when he became a 
Whig, and in 1856 joined the Republicans. He was 
married in 1835 to Miss Sarah Clapp, by whom he has 
three children, and belongs to the society of Friends 
or Quakers. He is a man of strong, practical, common 
sense ; is a shrewd, calculating, though quiet, and unas- 
suming politician, and acts more and speaks less than 
men generally. 



LUKE RANNEY. 

Mr. Ranney is a native of Massachusetts, and was 
born on the 8th of November, 1815. His parents were, 
also, natives of New England, and his father emigrated 
in 1823, to Cayuga county, N. Y. Mr. Ranney received 
a common school and academical education, and has 
resided, since 1835, chiefly in Elbridge, Onondaga 
county, where he is now engaged in farming. He was 
formerly a Whig, and has been a Republican since the 
organization of that party. He is an active politician 
in the county of Onondaga, and stumped his district 
with considerable success, during the campaigns of 1856, 
and '58. He has held various town offices in Cayuga 
and Onondaga counties, including that of Supervisor, 
and was elected to the seat he now fills by upwards of 
one thousand majority. He is a man of strong common 
sense, and has probably the most mathematical mind in 
the House, having great capacity for figures, statistics, 



214 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and the solving of difficult problems. He is strictly 
logical in argument, and is the last man to be success- 
fully approached with lobby influences or sophistry. 
Mr. Ranney has a family, and attends the Presbyterian 
church. 



JAMES J. REILLY. 

Mr. Reilly is a fine looking young man, with a full, 
merry face, blue eyes, dark hair, and a well developed 
figure. He was born in 1832, in the city of New York, 
and was left alone, by the death of his father, at the 
age of seventeen, with a widowed mother, two sisters, 
and a younger brother, whom it fell to his lot then to 
support. He accordingly, in 1850, went to California, 
where he was engaged in San Francisco, as a clerk in 
the hardware business, and in the latter part of 1851, 
returned to his native city, where he shortly afterwards 
obtained a position in the Post Office, under the Hon. 
Isaac V. Fowler. In 1857, he was a member of the 
Assembly, where he occupied a prominent position on 
the Standing Committee on Public Printing, and was 
returned to the present House by a majority of nearly 
two thousand. He has always been a Democrat of the 
National school, and is now a supporter of Senator 
Douglas, in opposition to the Kansas policy of the 
Federal Administration. Although possessing simply a 
common English education, he discharges his duties 
intelligently, promptly, and efficiently, and always 
watches with jealous anxiety the best interests of his 
constituents. He attends the Roman Catholic church, 
and is personally and politically a popular representative. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 215 



SIMEON RIDER. 

Mr. Rider was born on the 5th of February, 1812, in 
the village of Deruyter, Madison county, N. Y. He is 
the youngest child of Simeon Rider, who removed into 
that county from Dutchess county, about the year 1811,. 
and who died in 1812. After his father's death, he wag 
placed in charge of an older brother, with whom he re- 
mained, receiving only a very ordinary English educa- 
tion, until he had attained the age of eighteen, when he 
served his time at Tanning, which has always since been 
his chief occupation, in his native place. Mr. Rider has 
successfully filled various unimportant town offices ; was ; 
Supervisor during the year 1857 ; and was elected to> 
the Assembly by a majority of upwards of thirteen hun- 
dred. He was a staunch, unyielding Democrat of the 
conservative school till 1848, when he supported Mr. 
Van Buren for the Presidency, and became a Republi- 
can when the Democratic party endorsed the Kansas- 
Nebraska policy of Mr. Pierce's Administration.. He- 
is a sound, practical business man ,*: an active and influ- 
ential politician, and brings with him to the discharge 
of his legislative duties the experience of a successful 
and useful career. Mr. R. was married in 1843 to his 
present estimable lady, Miss Jane H. Shepherd, and 
attends the Presbyterian church. 



WILSON ROGERS. 

Mr. Rogers was born on the 2d of August, 1810,. in 
the town "of Somus, "Westchester county, N. Y. Be is 



216 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

of English and Holland extraction, and a lineal descen- 
dant of the famous John Rogers. His paternal grand- 
father, Ananias Rogers, was a native of Vermont, 
from whence he removed to Orange county, N. Y., 
where the father of the subject of this sketch, Richard 
Rogers, was subsequently born. Mr. Rogers received 
a common English education, and engaged in teaching, 
farming, and mercantile pursuits. He is now, also, 
engaged in farming, and during the past ten years has 
been operating extensively in the manufacture of butter 
and cheese. He has been Town Superintendent, Com- 
missioner of Common Schools, and Assessor, two years, 
where he resides, and was chosen to the seat he now 
occupies, as a Union candidate, by nearly one thousand 
majority. He was originally a Whig, and joined the 
Republican party at its first organization. He has been 
a zealous advocate of the cause of Temperance for thirty 
years ; is a fair speaker ; and fulfills the duties of his 
position quietly and efficiently. Mr. Rogers was mar- 
ried on the 3d of April, 1833, to Miss Sally A. Avery, 
whose parents were from Connecticut ; and is a believer 
in the christian religion. 



JAMES C. RUTHERFORD. 

This gentleman is about thirty -five years of age, and 
was a member of the Assembly in 1847. He was 
elected to his present position by a majority of about 
three hundred, and is the successor of the Hon. George 
Weir, one of the shrewdest and most industrious mem- 
bers of the last Legislature. He possesses some ability, 
and although not always successful in achieving his 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 217 

points, is honest and faithful in the discharge of the 
duties with which his constituents have entrusted him. 
His reputation is that of a man of industry and perseve- 
rance, and he is said to enjoy a high degree of personal 
popularity in the city of New York, where he resides. 
He is a Democrat, but since the recent division in 
that party on the subject of Popular Sovereignty, has 
not yet had sufficient political back-bone to openly de- 
clare, whether he is with Douglas or Buchanan on that 
question. Why not, then, Mr. Rutherford, broach this 
subject at once in your place on the floor of the House ; 
declare your position ; and call upon your colleagues to 
follow your example ! The people elsewhere have not 
hesitated to take a decided position in the controversy, 
and it is eminently proper that the great State of New 
York should no longer occupy the position of a silent 
spectator in a matter involving so much importance to 
the welfare of the people. . 



CHARLES M. SCHOLEFIELD. 

Mr. Scholefield was bom in Goshen, Conn., and is 
thirty-six years of age. He is the son of a Methodist 
clergyman, and is one of the same stock to which Sir 
Henry Scholefield belongs. His paternal grandfather 
was a Major in the English army for some years, and 
distinguished himself as a brave and skillful officer. 
Mr. Scholefield was educated for the profession of the 
law, and completed his legal course of studies in the city 
of Utica. He afterwards began the practice of his pro- 
fession at Whitestown, in that county, where he still 
resides. He has held the position of Deputy Clerk in 



218 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

the Assembly for several years, and is one of the best 
parliamentarians on the floor of the House. He is a 
ready, fluent, and energetic speaker, and seldom allows 
a discussion to arise in which he does not participate. 
He has a clear, logical mind, but has the bump of lan- 
guage largely developed, and is a capital fellow to speak 
against time. He was originally a Whig, but joined the 
Republican party at its first organization, and is strongly 
in favor of uniting all the Anti-Democratic forces in 
the State upon a common platform, as the only safe and 
reliable means of defeating the National Administration 
Democracy. Mr. Scholefield is a gentleman of prepos- 
sessing personal appearance ; is still single ; and seldom 
arises to address the House, without attracting the 
attention of the fairer portion of the spectators who 
constantly crowd the gallaries and the open space with- 
out the bar of the Chamber. 



JAMES S. SEE. 

Mr. See is a native of the town of Mount Pleasant, 
near the village of Tarrytown, Westchester county, 
N. Y., where he was born, on the 14th of April, 1818. 
He is descended from the French Huguenots, who fled 
to this country in consequence of religious persecutions, 
and his father, Peter See, is still living, at the ripe old 
age of seventy. Mr. See was educated in common 
school, and in 1833 became a clerk in a store, in which 
he was engaged until 1840, when he embarked in busi- 
ness on his own responsibility, in his native county. 
He then remained in the mercantile trade till the sum- 
mer of 1856, when, in consequence of the death of his 



•BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 219 

partner, he sold out, and has since then been engaged 
in no particular occupation. He was Supervisor of the 
town of Mount Pleasant in 1850, and was the first 
Whig that ever occupied the position. He was always 
a Whig, till the inauguration of the Republican project, 
when he became a zealous and active member of that 
party. Mr. See is a man of strong, common sense : is 
eminently qualified for a representative position ; enjoys 
an unusual degree of personal and political popularity 
in the county of Putnam — especially in the town 
where he resides ; and discharges the duties of his new 
position, industriously, intelligently, and with an honest 
purpose to subserve the best interests of his constituents. 
He is still single, and belongs to the Dutch Reformed 
church. 



JOHN J. SHAW. 

Mr. Shaw is a native of the city of New York, and 
is about twenty-six years of age. He is a descendant 
of genuine, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock, and is 
the son of James Shaw, a gentleman of standing and 
influence wherever he is known. Mr. Shaw was edu- 
cated in his native city, and has always been success- 
fully engaged in the mercantile trade. He was formerly 
a Whig, and at the dissolution of that party, enlisted 
zealously in the cause of Republicanism. Although 
one of the youngest men in the House, his uniform 
courtesy of manner and unaffected good nature, endear 
him to all with whom he comes in contact, and give him 
an influence which will be felt in the proceedings of the 
session. He enjoys a high degree of personal and polit- 
ical popularity, at home where he is best known, and 



220 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

was elected to the seat he now occupies in the Legisla- 
ture, by nearly three hundred majority, in a Demo- 
cratic district. He is a young man of fine personal 
appearance, and is still single. 



OSCAR F. SHEPARD. 

Mr. Shepard was a member of the last Assembly, 
and was one of the most influential men in that body, 
both on the floor of the House, and as a prominent 
member of the Standing Committee on Claims. He 
was born in 1813, in Middletown, Rutland county, Vt., 
and is of English descent. His parents were both 
natives of that State, and his father is still living, at 
the age of sixty-nine. When about thirteen years 
of age, he removed, with his parents, to the same town 
in which he now resides, in St. Lawrence county, N. 
Y. He received an academical education, and taught 
from the age of nineteen until 1854, when he turned 
his exclusive attention to farming, in which he had been 
previously partially engaged. He has held various town 
offices ; has been six years Magistrate, and still fills 
the office ; was a Democrat of the Silas Wright stamp, 
till he became a Republican in 1855 ; is strongly in 
favor of a Prohibitory Liquor Law ; was married in 
1838, to Miss Elizabeth Wilbur ; is a member of the 
Congregational church ; and an intelligent, hone 5 
straight-forward, independent and capable legislator. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 221 



HENRY W. SLOCUM. 

Mr. Slocum is one of the most promising young men 
in the House, and is the successor of the Hon. Thomas 
G. Alvord, who was Speaker of the last Assemby. He 
is a native of Delphi, Onondaga county, N. Y., and was 
born on the 24th of September, 1827. His father, 
Mathew B. Slocum, was formerly a merchant of the city 
of Albany, and removed to Delphi, in 1818, where he 
was engaged in the mercantile trade till 1853. He died 
in August, of that year, while on a visit to his son George 
E. Slocum, of Scottsville, Monroe county, N. Y. 

After receiving an ordinary English education, Mr. 
Slocum taught school from the age of sixteen until he 
was twenty years of age, when he was appointed a 
cadet in the United States Military Academy at West 
Point, from which institution he graduated in 1852, and 
received a commission of Second Lieutenant, in the 
First Regiment of U. S. Artillery. He served with 
his Regiment two years in Florida, and was then ordered 
to Charleston, S. C While at this port, he had access 
to the law library of B. C. Presley, Esq., and improved 
his leisure time in reading. He then resigned his Com- 
mission in the army, in the fall of 1856 ; was admitted 
to the bar in 1857 ; and settled in Syracuse, where he 
now resides, and where he is engaged in the manufac- 
ture of salt. He never held any civil office previous to 
his election to the present Legislature, and has necessa- 
rily never had any experience in political affairs. Nev- 
theless is a man of good, sound judgement, together with 
uprightness and integrity of purpose, and will doubtless 
prove himself an invaluable representative. Mr. Slo- 
cum was married in February, 1854, to Miss Clara A. f 



222 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

daughter of Israel Rice, of Cazenovia, Madison county, 
N, Y., and confines himself to no particular church in his 
ittendance upon religious worship. 



JACOB L. SMITH. 

Mr. Smith is a native of Germany, and was born in 
1826. He came to this country, with his parents, when 
only about three years of age, and settled in the city 
of New York, where he has always since resided. He 
received a good, common English education ; has been 
engaged in the mercantile business for some time ; and 
is a pretty shrewd business man. He has been a mem- 
ber of the Common Council of the city of New York, 
and has always been an active politician and a zealous 
Democrat. He was Chairman of the Standing Com- 
mittee on Expenditures of the Executive Department, in 
the Assembly of 1858, and was returned to the present 
House by a majority of over five hundred. He is indus- 
trious and attentive in the discharge of his duties ; 
attends the Dutch Reformed church ; and has just 
entered into matrimonial alliance. Every member will 
doubtless recollect Jake Smith long after the Legislature 
shall have adjourned, and many of his legislative asso- 
ciates returned to political oblivion. 



JEREMIAH SNELL. 

Dr. Snell was born on the 5th of May, 1817, in the 
town of Palatine, Montgomery county, N. Y. He is 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 223 

of German descent, and his father, George I. Snell, 
who served, with distinction, as a Captain in the war of 
1812, is still living on the farm on which he was born. 
His grandfather, Jacob Snell, was born in that town 
about the year 1760, and his great-grandfather was 
killed in the Revolution, in which his maternal grand- 
father, Joseph Wagner, also actively participated. Dr. 
Snell received a common school education, and in 1839 
attended the Medical College, at Fairfield. The next 
year he pursued his medical studies at Geneva, and 
practiced his profession, successfully, in his native place, 
from 1841 till 1845, when he removed to Port Jackson, 
where he now resides. He held the position of Post 
Master from 1849 till 1853 ; was Coroner from 1854 
till '57, and Supervisor from 1856 till 1857. He was 
always a Whig, of the National, Conservative stamp, 
till 1854, when he became an American, and has always 
since been an active, zealous, and influential member of 
that party. He has been very successful in his profes- 
sional career, and is looked upon as a high minded, 
straight forward, worthy man, who represents his dis- 
trict in the Assembly, with credit to himself as well as 
his constituency. Dr. Snell was married on the 1st of 
February, 1843, to Miss H. J. Ide, of Port Jackson, 
and attends the Dutch Reformed church. 



CHARLES S. SPENCER. 

Mr. Spencer is doubtless the most efFective impromptu 
speaker in the present Assembly. He is a fine rhetori- 
cian ; speaks fluently and frequently, without any elabo- 
rate preparation ; and throws that deliberate excitability 



224 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

and impressive earnestness into his language, without 
which there is no real eloquence. He is, also, faithful 
and industrious in the discharge of his duties, being 
seldom found absent from his seat in the House, and his 
constituents may well congratulate themselves upon 
having such an efficient and popular representative at 
the State Capitol. 

Mr. Spencer was born on the 13th of February, 1824, 
in Ithaca, Tompkins county, N. Y., a pleasant little 
village, founded by the late Surveyor General, Simeon 
De Witt. He is a son of the Hon. David D. Spencer, 
who died in 1855, and who occupied a distinguished and 
influential position in the State, for many years, as In- 
spector of State Prisons, and the editor and proprietor 
of the Ithaca Chronicle, during some thirty-four years. 
Mr. Spencer graduated at Williams College, Mass., in 
1844, with one of the first honors of his class, and was 
admitted to the practice of the law in 1847. In 1850, 
he removed to the city of New York, to fill a position in 
the Custom House, and has been successfully engaged 
there ever since, in the practice of his profession. Up 
to this time, he has been employed in many cases of 
public and private interest, and among others, was pro- 
minent in that in which John Bean obtained " his own 
Mary Ann." Mr. Spencer was formerly a Whig, till 
the inauguration of the Republican movement, since 
which time he has been an active and zealous member 
of that party. He is a brother of Spence Spencer, who 
now holds a position in the Comptroller's Department, 
and has a wide circle of warm personal and political 
friends. He was married in 1849 to Miss Cecelia 
Adelaide Loomis, of Auburn, Cayuga county, who is a 
niece of Dr. Edward Loomis, the able representative in 
the House from the Second District of Oneida county. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 225 



HENRY W. SPENCER. 

Mr. Spencer was born on the 16th of November, 
1809, in the town of Waterbury, New Haven county. 
Conn. He is of English descent, and his father, Ancel 
Spencer, who died in 1850, was, also, a native of that 
county. Like most successful men, Mr. Spencer, was 
educated in the common schools of his native State, 
and was engaged, for a period of years, in mercantile 
pursuits. He came to New York in 1842, and settled 
in the town of Broadalbin, Fulton county, where he is 
now successfully engaged in the lumber trade. He held 
the office of Deputy Sheriff in his native county from 
1838 till 1841 ; was elected a Justice of the Peace 
where he now resides, in 1846, and has just commenced 
a fourth term in that position. He was a Supervisor, 
during the years 1853, '57, and '58, and still holds the 
office, and in 1854 and '55 was a Justice of the Court 
of Sessions in Fulton county. Mr. Spencer was always 
a zealous Whig from 1831 till that party went out of 
existence, when his strong conservative views, on all 
matters of State and National policy, at once, led him 
into the American organization, where he has always 
since been an uncompromising and intelligent supporter 
of the distinctive principles of that party. He is a 
man of strong, practical common sense, and although 
quiet and unpretending, is one the most substantial 
men in the House. He was married in the fall of 
1846, to Miss Eliza H. Beecher, and attends the Pres- 
byterian church. 

15 



226 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



PATRICK S. STEWARD 

Mr. Stewart is probably the most imposing and attrac- 
tive looking man in the House, being somewhat below 
the medium height, with a stout, fleshy, well formed body ; 
a large, well-balanced head, whitened with the snows of 
many winters ; a frank, honest, good-natured, dignified 
countenance ; and is well calculated, as he sits calmly 
and quietly among his legislative compeers, to strike the 
most casual observer as being one of nature's noblemen. 

Mr. Stewart was born in August, 1791, in Edinburgh, 
Scotland, and is, therefore, one of the oldest men in the 
Legislature. He is of genuine, unmixed Scotch de- 
scent, and his paternal grandfather was a Scotch High- 
lander, and a rebel in 1745. His maternal grandfather 
was in King George the Third's army, in opposition to 
the Pretender, and his father, David Stewart, who died 
many years ago in Danbury, Conn., was a poor, honest 
man of superior character. Mr. Stewart received an 
academical education in London, and came to America 
nearly fifty years ago. Subsequently, his parents came 
over, and settled in Danbury, Conn., where they resided 
till after his father's death, when his mother removed to 
Jefferson county, N. Y., where she lived the remainder 
of her days. He has been an influential resident of 
that county, during the greater portion of his life, and 
has for many years been the agent of an extensive land 
estate, in that section of the state, formerly belonging to 
the late James Le Ray De Chaumont, and now the prop- 
erty of his son, V. Le Ray De Chaumont. He is, also, 
agent of the heirs of the late Francis Depace, of the 
city of New York, and is well and favorably known 
throughout Jefferson and Lewis counties. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 227 

Mr. Stewart was Post Master some five years, about 
twenty years ago, and has been President of the village 
corporation of Carthage, where he now resides. He, 
at present, occupies the position of Supervisor of his 
town, and comes to the Assembly by a majority of over 
six hundred. In politics, he has always been an Anti- 
Democrat, voting for Rufus King, for Governor, in 
preference to Daniel D. Tompkins, and for John Quincy 
Adams for President, in preference to Gen. Jackson, 
and in 1856 was a zealous supporter of the claims of 
Col. Fremont to the Presidency. He was, also, an 
ardent admirer of Henry Clay, and has expressed the 
hope that he might be able to live to see the day when 
he shall have the opportunity of voting for Mr. Seward 
for President. Mr. Stewart was married some forty 
odd years ago to a French lady, and attends the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. 



DAVID B. ST. JOHN. 

Mr. St. John is a native of Saratoga county, N. Y., 
where he was born on the 9th of January, 1803. His 
father, Benjamin St. John, who was of English descent, 
died near the city of Schenectady, on the 9th of May, 
1815. Mr. St. John is emphatically a self-educated and 
self made man, having attended school only a few months 
after he was eleven years of age, and has mostly fol- 
lowed the occupation of a farmer, although extensively 
engaged in surveying, during the past ten or fifteen years. 
He is a man of sound sense, and a good mathematical 
mind, and has, also, transacted considerable legal busi- 
ness, during the past few years. He has filled various 
town offices ; was Supervisor from 1835 till 1845, and 



228 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

occupied the position of a Justice of the Peace some 
fifteen years. He was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention of 1846, and occupied a prominent and influ- 
ential position in the Legislature of 1849. He always 
voted the Democratic ticket, till the fall of 1846, when 
that party, in his judgment, abandoned some of its car- 
dinal principles, and when he became a staunch, fearless, 
and independent Republican. He was elected to the 
seat he now occupies by a majority of some five hun- 
dred, and is a man of influence and high respectability 
in Otsego county, where he resides. Mr. St. John was 
married in 1828 to Miss Polly Deming, and usually at- 
tends the Universalis t church. 



EDWARD SUYDAM. 

Mr. Suydam is a merchant, residing at Rondout, 
Ulster county, one of the Democrat strong-holds in 
that county, and comes to the Legislature by only one 
hundred and sixty-eight majority. He is the successor 
in the House of the Hon. Fordyce L. Laflin, one of the 
most popular young men in that body in 1858, and was a 
member of the Assembly in 1843. He has always 
been a Democrat, but has never taken a very active 
part in politics, and has simply occupied the position 
of a quiet, and somewhat obscure man, in the commu- 
nity in which he resides. He is between forty and fifty 
years of age, and attends to his duties in the House 
quietly, industriously, and to the best of his ability. 
He is strictly honest — a well meaning man, but has 
evidently not the ability either to electrify the Legisla- 
ture or astonish the Nation. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 229 



JAMES SWEENEY. 

James Sweeney was "born on the 3d of September, 
1831, in the village of Tonawanda, Niagara county, N. 
Y., and is the youngest son of the late James Sweeney, 
Esq., an early pioneer of Western New York. His par 
ternal ancestors were Irish, and his maternal, Dutch, 
and ranked among the earliest and oldest settlers of the 
city of New York. His father, who died in Tonawanda 
in 1850, was an extensive land holder at that place, in 
connection with his brother, the late Col. John Sweeney, 
who served in the war of 1812, and who represented 
Niagara county in the lower branch of the Legislature, 
during the years 1842, '43, and '44. He is, also, a 
nephew of the late William Vandervoort, who at the 
time of his death in October, 1858, was a member of 
the Democratic State Central Committee from the 
Eighth Judicial district of this State, and who was one 
of the leading Democrats of Western New York. 

Mr. Sweeney received a good academical education, 
and in 1854 took the financial charge of the flouring mill, 
at Tonawanda, belonging to his brother, John Sweeney, 
lately deceased, and has always been exclusively a busi- 
ness man, this being his first appearance in public life. 
He has, however, not been an inattentive observer of the 
ordinary course of political events, and was a prominent 
member of the Republican State Convention in the fall 
of 1858. He was elected to his present position by a 
large majority, and is a young man of promise and high 
respectability in the section of the State where he 
resides. He discharges his duties honestly and faith- 
fully, and will no doubt prove himself an excellent 
legislator. 



230 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



CHARLES THOMAS. 

Mr. Thomas is a native of Duanesburgh, Schenec- 
tady county, N. Y., where he was born in 1814. His 
great grandfather came to this country from Wales, 
and settled in Kinderhook, Columbia county, where 
the father of the subject of this sketch, Isaac Thomas, 
who is still living, at the age of seventy-nine, was 
subsequently born. His grandfather died in Mont- 
gomery county, and his mother is still living, at the 
age of seventy-five. Mr. Thomas was educated in a 
common school, and learned the earpenter and joiner 
trade, at which he worked about six years. He then 
engaged in the mercantile business in the city of 
Schenectady, and remained so engaged, there and 
elsewhere, for some twelve years. He was, also, at 
the same time engaged in various other business enter- 
prises, and followed farming some four years. Besides 
Justice of the Peace, he never held any prominent 
public position, till his election to the present House, 
but has always been quite an active politician. He 
was formerly an old line Whig, adhering closely to 
the fortunes of that party till it adandoned its organiz- 
tion, when he became a Republican. He is attentive 
in the discharge of his duties, being always in his place 
on the floor of the House, and is a capable representa- 
tive. Mr. Thomas was married in 1839, to Miss Bar- 
bara Ann Greeg, and attends the Dutch Reformed 
cnurch. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 231 



DIDYMUS THOMAS. 

Mr. Thomas was born on the 24th of May, 1812, 
close by the tomb of Baron Steuben, at the foot of 
Starr's Hill, in the town of Steuben, Oneida county, 
N. Y. His father emigrated, with his parents, from 
Wales to Philadelphia, Penn., and in 1796, while serv- 
ing on board an American ship, engaged in a trading 
voyage with England, was taken prisoner by a British 
ship of war. He was then compelled to fight against the 
French, who were then the friends of his adopted country, 
and during his services under the British, had his right 
leg taken off by a cannon ball, just above the knee. 
After his recovery, he returned to America, and in 
1812 emigrated to Steuben, Oneida county, N. Y., 
where he is still living, at the age of eighty-six. He is the 
only person now living in the United States, who receives 
a pension from the British Government, although receiv- 
ing nothing from the government of the United States. 

Mr. Thomas received a common school and academi- 
cal education, and although educated for the medical 
profession, engaged in the mercantile trade, which he 
successfully followed some years. He is now chiefly 
employed in the real estate business, and is an active, 
correct, business man. He has held various town offices, 
including Town Clerk, School Superintendent and Com- 
missioner, and has been a Magistrate for more than nine 
years. He is now serving his third term, as Supervisor, 
in the town of Remsen, where he resides, and was 
elected to the present House by a majority of nearly six 
hundred. He was formerly a Democrat, but supported 
Mr. Van Buren in 1848, and is now a Republican. He 
has always been an active politician, having served in 



232 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

various State and National Conventions, and is a man 
of great personal and political popularity, wherever he 
is known. Mr. Thomas was married in 1835, to Miss 
Lydia, daughter of the Rev. Wm. G-. Pierce, late of 
Steuben, and in 1852, married his present excellent 
lady, Miss Eliza Griffiths, of Philadelphia, Penn. He 
usually attends the Methodist church ; and entertains 
strong views in favor of temperance in all things. 



ANDREW THOMPSON. 

Mr. Thompson was born in 1808, in the town of 
Jackson, Washington county, N. Y. He is of Sctoch, 
Irish, and English descent. His ancestors settled in 
that county many years ago, and his parents, both of 
whom are now dead, were, also, natives of that county. 
His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution, and 
served with distinction at the battle of Saratoga. Mr. 
Thompson was educated in a common school, and has 
always been a farmer, as was, also, his father before 
him. He has held some unimportant town offices, and 
has arisen as high in military distinction as Colonel of 
the 114th Regiment of New York State Militia, 
which position he has successfully occupied some six 
years. He was always an old line Democrat till the 
organization of the Republican party, and has been a 
somewhat active and influential politician in the town 
where he resides. Mr. Thompson is a quiet and indus- 
trious representative, and discharges his duties in the 
House with intelligence and efficiency. He was married 
in 1840, to Miss Eliza Stephens, and belongs to the 
Dutch Reformed church. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 233 



THEODORE E. TOMLINSON. 

Mr. Tomlinson is universally conceded to be the most 
finished and impressive orator in either branch of the 
Legislature. He is a man of sound judgment, a pro- 
found logical mind, a vivid and correct imagination, and 
strong, pathetic feelings, and whenever he speaks it is 
none of the stolid rehearsel and joint-stock oratory 
which not unfrequently turn the House into a mere reci- 
tation room; but it is the real eloquence of nature, 
bounding forth, in bold, elaborate, and poetic language, 
from the very soul of its author, electrifying his hearers, 
and sending home to their hearts and minds the irresis- 
table conviction of the truth and righteousness of the 
cause in which he speaks. 

Mr. Tomlinson resides in the city of New York, 
where he has been successfully engaged in the practice 
of the law for some years. He is about forty -five years 
of age, and his paternal ancestors were originally from 
Norway, from whence they came to this country about 
the beginning of the last century. He enjoys a high 
degree of personal and political popularity, and occupies 
a deservedly high rank in his profession. He was Cor- 
poration Attorney of the city of New York from 1844 
till 1847 ; was formerly a Whig, and an ardent friend 
and admirer of Henry Clay, in whose behalf he took the 
stump in the campaign of 1844 ; and is now acting with 
the Democrats, although strongly sympathising with the 
Republican movement, after the old Whig party had 
gone out of existence. He is a man of simple habits ; 
is courteous and dignified in his general deportment ; 
attends to his duties promptly and faithfully ; is more 
inclined to listen than to speak; is kind hearted, frank, 



234 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

straight-forward, and independent ; and is one of the 
most talented and reliable men in the House. Mr. 
Tomlinson is married, and occupies a high position in 
social, as well as in public life. 



FANKLIN TUTHILL. 

Dr. Frank Tuthill, as he is popularly called, was born 
on the 3rd of April, 1822, at Wading River, Suffolk 
county, on the east end of Long Island. He is of Eng- 
lish descent, though his ancestors were among the very 
first settlers on that Island. He entered college when 
only fourteen years of age, and graduated in his eigh- 
teenth year. He then studied medicine, and graduated at 
the New York University, in 1844, after attending two 
full courses of lectures, given by Mott, Revere, Draper, 
and the distinguished corps who, some ten years ago, 
taught medicine in the city of New York. He com- 
menced practice within a week after graduation, at 
Southold, situated on the north-eastern end of his native 
island, and continued at it with success for seven years. 
During this time he was continued, though in a strong 
Democratic district, for five years, as Town Superinten- 
dent, to which position he was appointed by a Democratic 
Board of Supervisors. 

In 1850 Dr. Tuthill was eleted by a handsome major- 
ity, to represent the First Assembly district in his native 
county in the State Legislature, he being the first 
Whig, with a single exception, ever sent to Albany from 
that ancient stronghold of the Democracy. He will be 
longest remembered, in his early legislative career, for 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 235 

his connection with the history of the Free School Act 
which was passed that year, and for his efforts to pre- 
vent the repeal of the act for the registering of births, 
marriages, and deaths. 

The Legislature, owing to the action of the Demo- 
cratic minority in the Senate, to prevent the canal policy 
of the Whig majority, held a summer session that year. 
Party spirit never ran higher, and the Doctor joined 
freely in the debates, in which he lacks neither fluency 
nor force. He strove very hard to get through a bill 
legalizing the dissection of the human body. During the 
two sessions it passed each branch of the Legislature, 
but it was violently assailed by the city delegation, and 
lumbered with so many amendments by them that it was 
lost. The discussion it then received, however, prepared 
the public mind for it, and it was passed without much 
opposition, a year or two later. At this extra session, 
the Doctor's lengthy report upon a whimsical petition to 
make bleeding in medical practice a penal offence, elici- 
ted a good deal of attention. It was marvelously 
enjoyed by the regulars, and handsomely abused by the 
irregulars ; indeed it had the honor to be more slash- 
ingly than ably reviewed in three succeeding numbers 
of an English Quarterly — an organ of the Chrono- 
Thermalists. 

While still representing Suffolk county, Dr. Tuthill 
removed to New York city, with the intention of con- 
tinuing his professional practice there. But after one 
year's practice he passed into the editorial corps of the 
New York Daily Times, under the lead of H. J. Ray- 
mond, an employment infinitely more congenial to his 
tastes. 

During the last three years he has held the responsi- 
ble and laborious position of city news editor of the 



236 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Daily Times, in which capacity he has been distin, 
guished for discretion, sagacity, intelligence, integrity 
and tact. 

Physically the Doctor is not a large man ; he alwayj 
enjoys good health, being particularly fond of a lon^ 
walk, and scrupulously a teetotaler. Religiously he is 
a Presbyterian, and we believe he was the lay repre- 
sentative of the Long Island Presbytery for two succes- 
sive years in the General Assembly at Philadelphia and 
Detroit. 



AUGUSTUS VAN CORTLANDT. 

Mr. Van Cortlandt was born in 1826, in the city of 
New York, and is, consequently, thirty-two years of 
age. His father removed to Yonkers, Westchester 
county, in 1840, where he took possession of an estate 
bequeathed to the subject of this sketch, by a maternal 
uncle, whose name he assumed, by an act of the Legisla- 
ture, in accordance with the requirements of his uncle's 
will. His father, whose name is Edward N. Bibby, and 
who is a well known physician in the city of New York, 
is still residing at Yonkers. 

Mr. Van Cortlandt received a classical education, and 
shortly after its completion, entered a counting house 
on Pine street, in his native city, where he remained 
till the age of twenty-one, when he established himself 
in Wall street, as a broker. He remained in this busi- 
ness about five years, when he married a sister of the 
present British Consul for North and South Carolina, 
and removed to Yonkers, where he still resides on his 
estate. He has held several town offices in that town ; 
is now Supervisor; and was elected to the present 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 237 

Assembly, as a Union candidate of the Democrats and 
Americans of his district. He has always been a 
straight forward Democrat, and, within late years, has 
taken quite an active and influential part in politics. 
He occupies his present position with dignity, firmness, 
and intelligence, and is eminently faithful to the interests 
of those whom he represents in the Legislature. He is 
a vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal church, and is 
a man of superior moral worth. 



BURT VAN HORN. 

Mr. Van Horn was born in the town of Newfane, 
Niagara county, N. Y. He is of English descent, and 
about thirty-six years of age. He was educated at the 
Yates Academy, preparatory to entering college, and in 
the winter of 1846, became a student in Madison Uni. 
versity. His health failing, he was compelled to abandon 
his studies, and made a trip to the South. He is now a 
farmer and manufacturer of woolen cloths in his native 
town. He was a member of the last House, attending 
closely to his duties, but not particularly distinguishing 
himself. At the opening of the present session Mr. 
Van Horn apparently resolved to make himself conspicu- 
ous. It is said he aspires to the leadership of his party 
in the House — an aspiration that has been the source of 
a good many sharp jokes at his expense. The prevailing 
trait in his composition — a trait so marked, that it is 
apparent to the "naked eye" — is an over estimate of 
himself. His bump of self-conceit is wonderfully devel- 
oped. He is one of those gentlemen who occasionally 
find their way into the Capitol, indulging an extrava- 



238 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

gant idea of the honor and glory of being an Assembly- 
man. Mr. Van Horn never forgets, for a moment, that 
he is a member of the Legislature. Mr. Van Horn 
considers that the eyes of the people are upon him; 
wherefore Mr. Van Horn sometimes renders himself 
rediculous. Nevertheless, Mr. Van Horn has many 
good qualities. He is an honest, respectable, worthy 
man. In the sphere wherein nature designed he should 
walk he is well enough, yet it cannot be denied that he 
is far better calculated to shine in a woolen factory or 
potato field than in the Council Chamber of the State. 



JAMES G. VAN VALKENBURGH. 

Mr. Van Valkenburgh was born on the 26th of June, 
1819, in Chatham, Columbia county, N. Y., and is of 
English and Dutch descent. His paternal ancestors 
settled on the banks of the Hudson, near Stuyvesant 
Landing, and subsequently removed to Chatham. His 
father, John J. Van Valkenburgh, is still living, at an 
advanced age, and has been a prominent and influential 
man in that section of the State. Mr. Van Valkenburgh 
was educated in a common school, and spent some time 
at the Kinderhook academy. He then spent some time 
in his father's store, and has since been engaged in 
farming and mercantile pursuits. He was President of 
the Columbia County Agricultural Society, in 1858, 
and was elected to the seat he now occupies by over six 
hundred and fifty majority. His first vote was cast for 
Gen. Harrison, for President, and he was always a 
Whig till the dismemberment of that party, when he 
joined the Republicans. He is a man of ability and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 239 

influence, enjoying an unusual degree of personal and 
political popularity in Columbia county, and has already 
proven himself an honest and faithful representative. 
Mr. Van Valkenburgh was married on the 13th of 
September, 1843, to Miss Eveline Wilbur, and, like the 
Quaker, believes in that religion which teaches that 
thirty- two quarts make a bushel. 



ULYSSES WARNER. 

Mr. Warner is a native of the town of Phelps. 
Ontario county, N. Y., and is the son of John War- 
ner, who was born in Massachusetts, and who was one 
of the early settlers of that town. His father is still 
living, at the advanced age of seventy-eight, and his 
mother, whose maiden name was Susan Post, and who 
is a native of Southampton, near the east end of Long 
Island, is, also, living at the age of seventy-four. They 
are both now living with the subject of this sketch, at 
Orleans, in his native county. 

Mr. Warner was born on the 7th of May, 1812, 
about one half mile east of the village of Orleans, and 
about sixty rods from where he now resides. He was 
educated in a common and select school, and was for some 
time a pupil of Judge Marvin, of Chautauque county. 
After concluding his education, he taught a short time, 
and then engaged, with his brother, in the tanning and 
shoemaking business. He was afterwards engaged in 
the mercantile trade some three years, and then became 
a farmer, which has always since been his occupation. 
He has held various town offices where he resides ; was 
elected a Justice of the Peace when only twenty-one 



240 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

years of age ; and was subsequently re-elected, holding 
the position some three years. He was, also, a Justice 
of the Sessions, during the years 1855 and '56, and dis- 
charged the duties of the office with credit to himself 
and satisfaction to the people of Ontario county. He 
has, also, been quite prominent in military life, having 
advanced as high as Colonel of his regiment, and is, in 
every relation of life, a popular man. In politics, he 
has always been a Democrat, of the old Hunker school ; 
is a devoted disciple of the cause of Temperance ; and 
is a fair speaker, frequently taking the stump in his 
town and district. Mr. "Warner was married in 1835, 
to Miss Mary Ann Rice, who died in 1842, and in 1843, 
he was married to his present wife, Miss Eliza Ann 
Jones. He attends the Baptist church, to which his 
wife belongs. 



RUSSELL WEAVER. 

This gentleman belongs to that class of men who 
quietly come into and go out of the world, without 
attracting any special attention — a class of men of 
whom subsequent generations know but precious little. 
Mr. Weaver is an honest farmer, residing at Brown- 
ville, in Jefferson county, and was elected to the Assem- 
bly by over one thousand majority. He has been a 
resident of that section of the State for some years ; is 
a man of some personal influence ; and is the successor 
of the Hon. George Babbitt, one of the most clever 
and industrious little fellows in the last Legislature. 
He is a strong Republican, clinging with unusual 
tenacity to the men and measures of that party, and is 
one of the most obedient political high privates in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 241 

either branch of the Legislature. Success to Mr. 
Warner in his legislative career, for he eveidently needs 
encouragement. 



WESLEY J. WEIANT. 

Mr. Weiant is a native of Haverstraw, Rockland 
county, N. Y., where he was born in 1811, and is of 
French and German descent. His ancestors were among 
the earliest settlers in that section of the State, and 
participated actively in the struggle for American Inde- 
pendence. His father, George Weiant, who was a 
merchant, died in 1855, in Haverstraw, respected and 
beloved by all who knew him. Mr. Weiant received 
nothing more in the way of an education than an 
ordinary common schooling, and at the age of fourteen 
became a clerk in his father's store. He is now engaged 
in the manufacture of bricks, and has always sustained 
the reputation of an industrious and successful business 
man. In 1857, he was Supervisor of the town where 
he resides, and was elected to the present Legislature 
by a complimentary majority. He was, also, a member 
of the last House, where he occupied an influential 
position on the Standing Committee on Engrossed Bills, 
and proved himself a quiet, unostentatious, though indus- 
trious and efficient member of that body. He has 
always been an old-fashioned Democrat of the national 
stamp; cast this first vote for Gen. Jackson, in 1832 ; 
and has always been an active and influential politician. 
Mr. Weiant was married in 1836, to Miss Catharine 
Rose ; has been a member of the Methodist church 
since 1842, and is a man of an exemplary private char- 
acter. 

16 



242 iJIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



BENJAMIN F. WIGGINS. 

Mr. Wiggins was born in 1829 in Grreenport, Suffolk 
county, N. Y., and has always since been a resident of 
that county. He is a son of Benjamin Wiggins, who 
was of English descent, and who died in 1847, univer- 
sally respected as a high-minded, honorable, and useful 
man. Mr. Wiggins was educated at the Wesleyan 
University, at Middletown, Connecticut, where he gradu- 
ated in 1853. He was educated for a teacher, and has 
been partly so engaged since leaving college. He was 
formerly a Whig, and cast his first Presidential vote for 
Gen. Scott in 1852. He became a member of the 
American party, at its first organization, in his native 
county in 1853, and has always since adhered firmly to 
its principles, although elected to his present position by 
a combination of Americans and Republicans, in his 
district. He is a good speaker, and has not unfre- 
quently addressed his fellow-citizens on the stump and 
in behalf of the cause of Temperance. Although among 
the youngest members of the House, he is a man of 
talent and energy, and is doubtless destined to advance 
still higher in the scale of usefulness and honor. Mr. 
Wiggins is still single, and attends the Congregational 
church. 



JOHN WILEY. 

Mr. Wiley was born in Dalton, Berkshire county, 
Mass., on the 24th of December, 1794, and is, therefore, 
one of the oldest men in the Assembly. He is a son of 
Samuel Wiley, who was of Irish descent, and who died 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 243 

in the town of Seyden, Lewis county N. Y., in 1812, 
and is the grandson of John Wiley, who was a native of 
Providence, Rhode Island, and who served as a Major 
in the American army, during the Revolution. 

Mr. Wiley came to the State of New York in 1808 
He was educated in a common school in his native State, 
and is now engaged in farming in Springwater, Livings- 
ton county, where he has resided for forty years. 
During the past two years he has occupied the position, 
at that place, of Commissioner of the United States De- 
posit Fund, and was elected to the Assembly by a ma- 
jority of over three hundred. He was originally a Whig, 
but since the dissolution of that party has been a mem- 
ber of the Republican party. He is an influential man ; 
an active intelligent politician, and during the past 
thirty years, has had more or less experience in public 
speaking. Mr. Wiley was united in marriage to Miss 
Betsy Southworth, of Litchfield, Conn., in 1817, and in 
1828 married his present wife, Miss Julia B., daughter 
of Robert Hyde, of Virginia, and a niece of Gen. Robert 
Goodloe Harper, of Baltimore, Maryland. He attends 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 



JOSEPH WILSON. 

Mr. Wilson is one of those quiet, observing, and 
unassuming men, who seldom fail to wield a heavy 
influence among their fellow-citizens, and occupies a 
high rank among the most efficient and substantial 
members of the House. He is a native of the county 
of Dunehgell, Ireland, and is the son of James Wilson, 
who died in that country about the year 1814. Mr, 



244 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Wilson came to America in 1826, with his mother, who 
died in 1842, at an advanced age, and settled in the 
city of New York. He received a common school 
education, and at the age of seventeen, engaged in the 
marble cutting business, in the city of Brooklyn, where 
he has since resided. He has, since then, been exten- 
sively engaged in that occupation, and has been an active 
and successful business man. He has held the position 
of Alderman, in that city, some eight years, and, in 
18.30, vvas Chairman of the Board, acting a short time 
as Mayor. He has, also, been a member of the Board 
of Education about ten years, and stands deservedly 
high as a man of influence and worth. He has always 
been an uncompromising Democrat, of the Hard Shell 
school, and for many years has been a member of the 
Democratic General Committee of Kings county. Mr. 
Wilson was married in 1834, to Miss Eliza Newell, and 
belongs to the Dutch Beformed church. 



PETER, WINTERMUTE. 

Mr. Wintermute is a native of Sussex county, N. J. 
and was born on the 20th of August, 1806. He is of 
Dutch and partially of English descent, and is a des- 
cended of one of three brothers who originally came to 
this country; the first of whom, the grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, settled in Sussex county, N. J. ; 
the second of whom settled in Canada ; and the third, 
in the valley of the Wyoming, where he and his family 
were present at the famous massacre, during the Revo- 
lution. His father, Peter Wintermute, died in New 
Jersey, in 1837. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 245 

Mr. Wintcrmute received a common school education 
in his native place, and was engaged in farming until 
after his father's death, when he embarked in the mer- 
cantile trade, in which he has been very successful. He 
never held any prominent public position till his elec- 
tion to the present House, but is a man of judg- 
ment, and will doubtless make an excellent representa- 
tive. He was formerly a Whig, and an ardent and 
enthusiastic admirer of the gallant and patriotic Clay, 
but since the abandonment by that party of its organi- 
zation, has been a member of the Republican party. 
He has had some experience as a public speaker, and is 
one of the most popular men in Chemung county, where 
he now resides. Mr. "VVintermute was married in 1841 
to Miss Emeline, daughter of Deacon David Lane, of 
Orange county, and is an anti- Hardshell Baptist 



WILLIAM WOODBURY. 

Mr. Woodbury was born in Leicester, Worcester 
county, Mass., in 1796. His parents were of genuine 
Puritan stock, and their ancestors were, for a long 
period of years, residents of Sutton, Mass. His mother 
died in Bangor, Maine, in 1808, and his father, Aaron 
Woodbury, in Groton, N. Y., in the year 1840. Mr. 
Woodbury received his education, chiefly, in the com- 
mon schools of his native State, and being left an 
orphan, at the age of twelve, and the oldest of seven 
children, without any means of support, save his indus- 
try, he employed himself in various ways until he was 
twenty-one years of age. He then removed into New 
York, and settled in Groton, Tompkins county, where 



246 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

he taught school, during the winter, for five successive 
years, and in 1822 purchased fifty acres of land, since 
which time he has been chiefly engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. He has held various town offices, including 
Supervisor, which he filled some ten years, and has 
been a Justice of the Peace. He enjoys a high degree 
of personal popularity wherever he is known, and was 
elected to the Assembly by a majority of fourteen hun- 
dred. He was a Democrat till 1848, when he supported 
the claims of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency, and 
was a member of the Anti-Nebraska State Convention 
at Saratoga in 1854. Mr. "Woodbury was married in 
1822, to Miss Louisa Raymond, of Athol, Mass., a 
most worthy lady of Puritanical descent, and has been 
a member of the Congregational church since 1832. 



CHRISTIAN B. WOODRUFF. 

Mr. Woodruff is a man of some legislative ability and 
influence, and hails from the city of New York, where 
he occupies the position of a clerk in the City Hall. 
He was elected to his present place in the Assembly by 
a majority of over six hundred and fifty, and is the suc- 
oessor of the Hon. Richard Winne, a young gentleman 
of some importance in the last House. Mr. Woodruff 
is industrious and energetic in the discharge of his offi- 
cial duties, and although hitherto occupying a compara- 
tively obscure position among his fellow-citizens, may 
gather a few laurels before the close of the session. He 
has always been a Democrat, but is not over scrupulous 
in his political views, and could easily turn his political 
coat, without any very serious compunction of conscience 
if his own private interests demanded the sacrifice. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 247 



WILLIAM A. YOUNG. 

Mr. Young is one of the most quiet, intelligent, 
industrious, lionest, and popular men in either branch 
of the Legislature, and the people of the city of Albany 
may well felicitate themselves upon the fact, that they 
have such an able representative in that body. 

Mr. Young is a native of the town of Berne, Albany 
county, N. Y., where he was born on the 5th of Decem- 
ber, 1816. He is descended from a family who settled 
on Long Island, long before the American Revolution, 
and is a son of the late Rev. James Young, who was a 
Methodist clergyman of high respectability and influ- 
ence in the neighborhood where he resided. He was 
educated for the law, and pursued his legal studies in 
the office of the late Teunis Van Yechten, of Albany, 
and acquired many of his excellent qualities from the 
example of that indefatigable, upright, and good man. 
After his admission to the bar, Mr. Young opened an 
office in Albany, where he has been successfully engaged 
in practice ■ever since. He has held the office of Recor- 
der in that city, discharging his duties with the most 
satisfactory success, and has always been a Democrat 
of the Anti-Lecompton stamp. His views and feelings 
on all matters of a State and National character are 
intensely conservative and democratic, and is entitled to 
much praise from the friends of Popular Sovereignty — 
the right of the people to govern themselves — for the 
bold and fearless manner in which he came forward, as 
the candidate, for his present position, of that class of 
voters who have repudiated the Kansas policy of the 
National administration. He possesses a large fund of 
general information, on all matters of a scientific, lite- 



248 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

rary, and political character, arid is an invaluable man 
in the city of which he is a resident. Mr. Young is 
unmarried, and occupies a high position in private as 
well as in public life. 



ALPHABETICAL LIST 

OF 

MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY, 

With the Districts and Counties they represent, Post 
Office address, and Politics. 

Hon. Db Witt C. Little johjnt, Speaker, Oswego co., Rep. 

Dis. Assemblymen. Counties. P. O. Address. Pol. 

2. Abbott, Chauncey M.,... Cayuga, Niles R. 

5. Andrus, Lucius C, Kings, Brooklyn, R. 

3. Aylworth, Orin, Onondaga, . . Fabius, R. 

1. Baker, Marsena, Cattaraugus,. Farmersville,.. R. 

2. Batcheller, George S.,... Saratoga,... Batchellerville, R. 

3. Bingham, Anson, Rensselaer,.. Nassau, R. 

1. Bliss, Henry, Chautauque,. Sherman, R. 

1. Boughton, Chauncey Saratoga,... Half-Moon,... A- 

1. Bowen, Daniel, Erie, Buffalo, A 

2. Briggs, William, St. Lawrence, Ogdensburgh, . R. 

2. Brockway. Beman, Oswego, Pulaski, R. 

2. Buffiington, William, Jr., Cattaraugus,. Cattaraugus,.. R. 

1. Bump, Osborne E., Broome, Osborne Hoi' w, R. 

1. Bushnell. Gideon E., Sullivan, Clary ville, ... . D. 

2. Carpenter, Albert, Ulster, Modena, A. 

1. Chamberlain, Jacob P.,.. Seneca, Seneca Falls,. R. 

10. Cbanler, John W., New York, . . New York,. . . . D. 

11. Childs, Noah A., New York, . . New York,.... D. 

15. Childs, Stephen S., New York, .. New York,.... R. 

1. Christie, Robert, Jr., Richmond, . . Bay View, . . . D. 

2. Clark, Henry B., Rensselaer,.. Hoosick, A. 

1. Cobb, William, Allegany, ... Spring Mills,.. R 



250 MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 

Dis. Assemblymen. Counties. P. O. Address. Pol. 

2. Coburn, Noah M., Madison, ... Stockbridge, .. R. 

3. Coit, James J., Oswego, Central Sq're,. R. 

1. Coleman, Thomas, Rensselaer,. . Troy, A. 

4. Collins, Lorenzo D., Albany, West Troy,. . . R. 

7. Conkling, Frederick A., . New York, . . New York,.. . . R. 

2. Cornelius, Richard J.,.. . Suffolk, Amity ville, .. . D. 

3. Costello, Patrick C, Oneida, Camden R. 

1. Creble, Henry, Albany, Feura Bush,. . D. 

2. Crocker, Wickham R., . . Steuben, .... Cameron, .... R. 

2. Davis, Joseph, Orange, Middletown, . . R. 

3. Duryea, Harmanus B., .. Kings, Brooklyn, R. 

1. Earll, David, Tioga, Tioga Centre,. R. 

1. Eveland, Abel, Steuben, Bradford, R. 

2. Farnum, Samuel J Dutchess, ... Poughkeepsie, R. 

2. Filkins, Morgan L., Albany, .... Albany, A. 

2. Fitzgerald, Michael, .... New York, . . New York,.. . . D. 

3. Fish, Furman, Jefferson, . . . Cape Yincent,. R. 

1. Fuller, Samuel W., Livingston, . Conesus Cent., R. 

4. Gardner, Thomas, Kings, Brooklyn, D. 

1. Godard, Harlow, St. Lawrence, Richville, .... R. 

4. Gover, William, New York, . . New York,.. . . D. 

2. Grttnt, Judson L., Chenango,. . . Smithville Fl'ts R. 

1. Graves, Henry K., Wayne, South Butler,. R. 

1. Graves, Solomon, Herkimer,... Gravesville, ... R. 

2. Green, Lester, Herkimer, . . Danube, R. 

1. Hall, Monroe, Essex, Jay, R. 

1. Heermance, Henry P., .. Columbia, .. Glencoe Mills,. R. 

1. Holmes, Arthur, Cortland, ... McGrawville, . R. 

1. Holt. Elias C. Wyoming,... Bennington.,.. R. 

3. Hubbell, Gaylord B., Westchester,. Sing Sing, R. 

1. Hutchinson, Almanzor,. . Orleans, Gaines, R. 

6. Jeremiah, George A., ... New York, . . New York,.. . . D. 

1. Johnson, Barna R., Delaware, ... Downsville, .. . R. 

3. King, John S., Erie, Williamsville,. R. 

3. Ladew, Abraham D., ... Ulster, The Corner... . R. 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 251 

Dis. Assemblymen. Counties. P. O. Address. Fol 

2. Laing, John A., "Wayne, Marion, R. 

1. Lamont, William C...... Schoharie,.. Charlotteville,. D. 

2. Law, Samuel A Delaware, .. Meredith,.... A. 

1. Lawrence, Edward A., . . Queens, .... Flushing, .... D. 

2. Lockhart, Alfred, Allegany,... Angelica, .... R. 

1. Longenhelt, George F.,. . Otsego, South Valley,. R. 

2. Loomis, Edward, Oneida, Westmoreland, R. 

1. Lyon, Harrison A., Monroe, Brighton, .... R. 

1. Lyon, Lyman R., Lewis, Lyon's Falls,.. R. 

1. Mackin, James, Dutchess, . . . Fishkill L'ding R. 

17. McLeod, James, New York, .. Harlem, D. 

1. Macomber, Augustus R.,. Greene, Windham Cen. D. 

1. Mallery, James H., Orange, Newburgh, D. 

13. Masterson, Peter, New York, . . New York, . . . D. 

2. Meeks, Robert L., Queens, Jamaica, R. 

1. Mekeel, Isaac D., Schuyler, ... Searsburgh,.. . R. 

6. Messerole, Abraham, Jr., Kings, Brooklyn, .... R. 

2. Miller, Henry B., Erie, Buffalo, R. 

1. Moore, Marcus D., Kings, Brooklyn, .... A. 

1. Morris, Daniel, Yates, Rushville, R. 

1. Moulton, Elbridge G.,.. . Genesee, Alexander, . . . R. 

2. Northup, James M., .... Washington,. Hartford, .... R. 

14. Opdyke, George, New York, . . New York,.. . . R. 

1. Palmer, Grant B., Chenango,... Columbus, ... R. 

2. Palmer, Sidney E., Chautauque,. Vermont, .... R. 

1. Parlin, Martin L., Franklin, Malone, R. 

1. Payne, William W., Cayuga, Auburn, R. 

1. Pelton, Edwin A., Putnam, Cold Spring,.. R. 

1. Pendell, Elisha, Warren, Athol, R. 

3. Perry, Alphonso, Monroe, Clarkson, R. 

1. Pierce, Lewis W., Clinton,. .... Plattsburgh,. . R. 

3, Plato, JohnT.,.. Steuben,.... Jasper, R. 

2. Pond, Elias, Monroe, .... Rochester, . . . R. 

2. Powell, Shotwell, Ontario, Naples, R. 

1. Ranney, Luke, Onondaga, . . Elbridge, R. 



252 MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 

Dis. Assemblymen. Counties. P. O. Address. Pol. 

8. Reilly, James J., New York, . . New York, D. 

1. Rider, Simeon, Madison, ... DeRuyter, ... R. 

4. Rogers, Wilson, Erie, Collins, R. 

16. Rutherford, James C.,... New York, . . New York, ... D. 

1. Scholefield, Charles M., . Oneida, Whitesboro, . . R. 

2. See, James S., Westchester,. Tarrytown, .. . R. 

5. Shaw, John J., New York, . . New York,.. . . D. 

3. Shepard, Oscar F., St. Lawrence, Lawrence ville, R. 

2. Slocum, Henry W., Onondaga, . . Syracuse, R. 

1. Smith, Jacob L., New York, . . New York, D. 

1. Snell, Jeremiah, Montgomery,. Port Jackson,. A. 

9. Spencer, Charles S., .... New York, . . New York, . . . R. 

1. Spencer, Henry W., Ful. & Ham., N. Broadalbin, A. 

2. Stewart, Patrick S., .... Jefferson, ... Carthage,.... R. 
2. St. John, David B., Otsego, Edmeston, ... R. 

1. Suydam, Edmond, Ulster, Rondout, D. 

2. Sweeney, James, Niagara,.... Tonawanda, . . R. 

1. Thomas, Charles, Schenectady, Schenectady, . R. 

4. Thomas, Didymus, Oneida, Remsen, R. 

1. Thompson, Andrew, .... Washington,. Greenwich,... R. 

12 Tomlinson, Theodore E., . New York, . . New York, . . . D, 

7 Tuthill, Franklin, Kings, Brooklyn, R. 

1. Van Cortlandt, Agustus,. Westchester,. South Yonkers D. 

1. Van Horn, Burt, Niagara, .... Newfane, R. 

2. Van Volkenburgh, James, Columbia, .. Chatham Cent. R. 

1. Warner, Ulysses, Ontario, Orleans, D. 

1. Weaver, Russell, Jefferson, .. . Brownville, . . . R. 

1. Weiant, Wesley J., Rockland, .. . N. Haverstraw D. 

1. Wiggins, Benjamin F., . . Suffolk, Greenport,.. . . R. 

2. Wiley, John, Livingston,.. Springwater,.. R. 

1. Wilson, Joseph, Kings, Brooklyn, .... D. 

1. Wintermute, Peter, Chemung, ... Horse Heads,. R. 

1. Woodbury, William, .... Tompkins, . . . Groton, R. 

3. Woodruff, Christian B., . New York, . . New York,.. . . D. 
3. Young, William A., Albany, .... Albany, .... Ind. 



ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES. 253 



ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEES. 

Ways and Means. — Conkling, Hall, Duryea, L. R Lyon, 
Chanler, Lawrence, Boughton. 

Commerce and Navigation. — Tuthill, Shaw, Chamber- 
lain, Loekhart, Christie. 

Canals. — Hutchinson, Collins, Stewart, Bowen, Brock- 
way, Wintermute, Van Cortlandt. 

Railroads. — Godard, Wiley, Grant, Rider, Fitzgerald 

Banks. — Davis, Opdyke, Payne, Coleman, Warner. 

Insurance. — Opdyke, Messerole, Scholefield, N. A. Childs, 
Suydam. 

Two-third and Three-fifth Bills. — Meeks, C. S. Spencer, 
Earll, Macomber, Tomlinson. 

Colleges y Academies, and Common Schools. — Van Horn, 
S. Graves, Holmes, Tomlinson, Van Cortlandt. 

Grievances. — Green, Longenhelt, Pendell, Moulton, 
Smith. 

Privileges and Elections. — Cobb, Powell, Eveland, 
Carpenter, Woodruff. 

Petitions of Aliens — Scholefield, Fish, Parlin, Macomber, 
Cornelius. 

Erection and Division of Towns and Counties. — Perry, 
L. E. Palmer, Wiggins, Meeks, Heermance. 

Claims. — Shepard, Mackin, St. John, Ranney, Jeremiah. 

Internal affairs of Towns and Counties. — Hall, Mackin, 
D. Thomas, Andrus, Jeremiah. 

Medical Societies and Colleges. — Loomis, Crocker, S. S. 
Childs, Holt, Snell. 

State Charitable Institutions.— Briggs, H. K. Graves, 
Baker, Masterson, Creble. 

Incorporation of Cities and Villages. — Pond, Moore, 
Sweeney, J. J. Reilly, Mallery. 

Manufacture of Suit. — Slocum, Payne, Bump, McLeod, 

King. 

Trade and Manufactures. — Farnum, Costello, Laing, 
Northup, Gardner. 



254 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES. 

State Prisons. — Abbott, Hubbell, Pierce, G. B. Palmer, 
Clark. 

Engrossed Bills. — Thompson, Earll, Holt, Gover, Car- 
penter. 

Militia and Public Defence. — Duryea, See, Slocum, Pel- 
ton, Lawrence. 

Poads and Bridges. — Buffington, Van Valkenburgh, 
Eveland, Weiant, Filkins. 

Public Lands. — H. A. Lyon, Woodbury, Powell, Fish, 
Weiant. 

Indian Affairs. — Wiggins, Aylworth, Rogers, Northup, 
Bushnell. 

Charitable and Religious Societies. — Hubbell, Ladew, 
Coburn, Weaver, Fitzgerald. 

Agriculture. — Fuller, Mekeel, Coit, L. R. Lyon, Law, 

Public Printing. — Bliss, Thompson, Miller, Gover, 
Law. 

Expenditures of the Executive Department. — Moulton. 
C. Thomas, Plato, Rutherford, H. W. Spencer. 

Expenditures of the House. — Crocker, See, Farnum, 
Bump, Wilson. 

Judiciciary. — Morris, Johnson, C. S. Spencer, Bingham, 
Batcheller, Young, Lamont. 

Joint Library. — S. Graves, Andrus, H. A. Lyon, Chan- 
ler, Law. 



OFFICERS OF THE SENATE. 



255 



OFFICERS OF THE SENATE. 



Name. 
Samuel P. Allen, . . . 
James Terwilliger, . . 
Charles G. Fair man, 
Asahel N. Cole,. . . . 
William Hotchkiss,. 
Henry W. D wight, . 
Simeon Dillingham,. 
Richard U. Owens,. . 
Henry W. Shipman. 
Samuel Ten Eyck, . . 
James C. Clark,. . . 
George R. Waldron, 
Joseph Garlinghouse, 
Nathaniel Goodwin,. 
Nicholas A.Finnegen, 

Alfred Hoyt, 

"William Quinn,. . . . 
D wight Reed,. .... 
George Schermerhorn 
Chas. Garlinghouse, . 
Arthur S. Knight,.. 
Thomas P. Graham, 
John Stephenson, . • 



Office. County. 
Clerk, Monroe- 
Journal Clerk, Onondagua. 

Deputy Clerk, Chemung. 

do , Alleghany. 

do Warren. 

Sergeant-at-Arms, . . . Cayuga. 

Postmaster, St. Lawrence. 

Doorkeeper, Oneida. 

1st Ass'nt Doorkeeper, Broome. 
2d do Madison. 

3d do Warren. 

Librarian, Madison. 

Janitor, Cayuga. 

Sup't Senate Chamber, Albany. 
Assistant Postmaster, do 
Bank Messenger, .... Monroe. 
Page, Albany. 

do Livingston. 

do Herkimer. 

do Ontario. 

do Albany. 

do Rensselaer. 

do • Albany. 



REPORTERS. 

Name. Paper. 

T. S. Giilett, Albany Evening Journal. 

D. A. Manning, Albany Atlas and Argus. 

M. H. Rooker,, Independent Press. 

Wm. H. Bogart, N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 

C. T. Smith, 



256 



OFFICERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 



OFFICERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 

Name. Office. County. 

William Richardson, . Clerk, . . Albany. 

Corn. S. Underwood,. Journal Clerk, Cayuga. 

Luther Caldwell,. . . . Assistant Clerk,. . . . Rockland. 
Abel Godard,. ...... Engrossing Clerk,. . . St. Lawrence. 

Laurin L. Rose, Senior Deputy, ..... Wayne. 

Philan. R. Jennings,. Junior Deputy, . . .. Suffolk. 
Jerome A.Lake,.... Asst. Journal Clerk,. Livingston. 

Franklin A. Knapp,. . Librarian, Jefferson. 

Henry S tines, Assistant Librarian, . Niagara. 

Daniel M. Prescott, . . Sergeant-at-Arms, . . Oneida. 

George C. Dennis, . . . Doorkeeper, Washington. 

Joseph Ball, First Ast. Doorkeeper, Erie. 

John J. Stevens, .... Sec. Asst. Doorkeper, New York. 
Charles D. Easton,. . . Asst. Serg't-at-Arms, Montgomery. 

Hugh Magee, Post Master, Steuben. 

James H. Wild, .... Asst. Post Master, . . Columbia. 
George IT. Knapp, . . . Doorkeeper, ladies gal. Dutchess. 
Henry B. Baxter, . . . Doorkeeper, gent's " Cattaraugus. 
Timothy B. Rice,. . . . Asst. Doorkeeper, . . Otsego. 
J.Seymour Matthews, " . New York. 

Edward Johnson, ... " . . Delaware. 

Gurdon B. Taylor,. . . " . . Orleans. 

Daniel 0. Cleveland, . cc - . • Fulton. 

John L. Lake, . . Oswego. 

Mark M. Lewis, " . . Albany. 

Glen V. R. Drum, . . . Keeper Ass. Chamber, Rensselaer. 
Volney Eaton, Janitor, Herkimer. 



Name. 

D. A. Levien,. . . 
George Dawson, . 

E. K. Olmsted, . . 



REPORTERS. 

Paper. Residence. 

Associated Press, Albany. 

Albany Evening Journal,. . Albany. 
Albany Atlas & Argus,. . . . New York. 



OFFICERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 257 

Name. Paper. Residence 

Philip Snyder, . . . Albany Statesman, Albany. 

Hugh J. Hastings, Albany Knickerbocker, . . . Albany. 

R. M. Griffin,. . . . Albany Standard,. Albany. 

J. C. Cuyler, .... Albany Express, Albany. 

J. F. Cleveland, . . New York Tribune, New York. 

Alexander Wilder, New York Evening Post,. . Kings. 

W. M. Gillespie, . . New York Express, New York. 

John Sharts, New York Herald, Albany. 

Thomas T. Everett, N. Y. Commercial Adv.,. . . New York. 
Edgar McMullen, . Brooklyn Evening Journal, Kings. 
JohnB. Stonehouse Elmira Daily Advertiser,. . Albany. 

Geo. W. Bull, .... Buffalo Republic, Erie. 

W. W. Chubbuck, Utica Morning Herald,. . . . Oneida. 
A. W. Mattice, . . . Putnam Free Press & others, Putnam. 
G. W. Bungay,. . . Central Independent,. . . . Oneida. 
Anson G. Chester, Syracuse Journal, Onondaga. 

17 



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Comstock's New York Reports. 
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